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Osram and Conti to form JV for smart lighting for automotive

The idea is to combine innovative lighting technology with electronics and software to develop, manufacture and market intelligent lighting solutions for the automotive industry.

The global joint venture will operate under the name Osram Continental GmbH and have its registered office in the Munich region. The companies will each have a 50% stake in the joint venture. The aim is to generate annual sales in the mid-triple-digit-million-euro range with a workforce of around 1’500 employees and 17 locations worldwide. Dirk Linzmeier (CEO) from Osram and Harald Renner (CFO) from Continental have been named as designated managing directors. The joint venture is scheduled to start in 2018. Osram will be transferring its automotive Solid State Lighting (SSL) module business over to the joint venture. Continental will be incorporating its light control business from the Body & Security business unit. This will lead Osram Continental to combine semiconductor-based lighting modules, advanced electronics, optics and software expertise with access to sensor technology and light sources. The joint venture will operate as a standalone company. “The joint venture is a sign that Osram is focusing its efforts consistently on digitalization. Continental’s expertise in software and electronics is the perfect complement to our technology leadership in automotive lighting. It will create a forward-looking company for digital automotive lighting,” said Stefan Kampmann, CTO of the Osram Licht AG. “The pace of innovation in the automotive industry lighting segment is rapid, and software is strengthening this dynamic,” explained Helmut Matschi, member of the Continental Executive Board. “While conventional lighting expertise remains important to our customers, the addition of electronics to enable new light functions is taking on increased significance. The joint venture will systematically combine these two areas and raise them to a new level.” Thanks to increasingly intelligent light functions in vehicles as well as new light-based design and application options, semiconductor-based technology, software and electronics are gaining progressively in importance. Each year, growth in the market for semiconductor-based front lighting solutions is somewhere in the double-digit range. Market studies indicate that by as early as 2025 more than half of new cars worldwide could be fitted with semiconductor-based lighting solutions. “By joining forces, we will be in an even better position to drive forward innovations by working closely with the automotive industry to integrate lighting, sensor technology and electronics seamlessly in a single application. This will allow us to drive forward new intelligent light functions, such as the combination of lighting and sensor technology in a module or light-based communication between the driver, other road users and the vehicle surroundings,” explained Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of Osram’s Specialty Lighting business unit.

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March 15 2024 2:25 pm V22.4.5-2
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