Reading light for car interiors: Osram offers LED variant of the Onyx Copilot

Osram is now offering the Onyx Copilot reading light with long-lasting light emitting diode technology. For its elegant and highly flexible design the LED accessory for vehicle interiors has been awarded this year’s red dot award, one of the world’s most important design prizes. The Onyx Copilot is also the prelude to further LED upgrading products from the market leader for automotive lighting applications, to be launched in 2013.

Available until now with a halogen lamp, Osram has now equipped the reading light for vehicle interiors with LEDs. The new version has a service life of 5,000 hours, and it is not necessary to replace the LED during this time. For comparison, the halogen lamp had to be replaced after about 1,000 hours. For its high-quality and subtle design the Onyx Copilot now received the “red dot award: product design”, the coveted quality mark for aesthetic forms. The neck of the light is manufactured with black silicone rubber and can be individually aligned according to needs. The light fixture can be simply attached to the cigarette lighter. A button for switching on and off is located on the light head. The light is suitable both for cars (12 V) and trucks and buses (24 V).

LED portfolio for upgrading purposes

Since LEDs can be increasingly found in new cars, they are also popular as retrofit products. With the daytime running light kit Light@Day Osram already has an LED product for front lighting in their spectrum. Unlike many no-name products, it is fully compliant with ECE guidelines (Economic Commission for Europe). Retrofit lamps, meaning LED lamps with traditional bases, supplement the interior lighting portfolio of the Number 1 in the automotive light sector. In addition to the Onyx Copilot reading light, other interior and exterior automotive lighting products will come to market in the following months. As a result a combined daytime running light/fog light will soon be available, and the company will also launch its first ambience lighting set onto the market.

“There is an enormous demand for LEDs in new cars”, comments Christian Prell, Head of Sales and Marketing Aftermarket Europe at Osram. “Garages and dealers should follow this trend and make first-class offers with high-class products to their customers.”