Koito developing lighter weight headlights

South Korea’s Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is accelerating efforts to develop lighter, less costly car headlights, hoping to halve both the weight and cost of its products by 2011. Lighter headlights can help reduce the overall weight of a car, thus raising fuel efficiency by lessening load on the engine. Koito, a leading manufacturer of automotive lighting equipment, is best known for its high-end headlights for luxury cars and large vehicles. However, the high-end market is the sector hit hardest by the global financial crisis. Thus, automakers are focusing on the production of smaller, more fuel-efficient and lower-emission cars, while autoparts makers such as Koito are focusing on the development of products that can help reduce vehicle production cost and improve vehicle fuel efficiency. (February 13, 2009)