HID Lighting’s Future Very Bright, Says Study

A new study finds that 92% of vehicle owners in the U.S. currently using High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights would buy a vehicle with this technology again.
The lighting technology, which most people will recognize for its intensity and bluish hue, has been found on an increasing number of vehicles. Though initially only available on very high-end vehicles, it is not finding a home with mid-market cars.
The latest research, conducted by the Dorr Research Corporation of Burlington, Vermont and funded by lighting supplier Osram Sylvania, indicates that drivers currently using HID headlights consider it to be an important feature to have for future vehicle purchases.
Significantly, while only one- third of the new vehicle owners polled in New York, Florida, Illinois and Texas cited HID lighting as having some influence on their current automobile purchase decision, more than 60% said they would be influenced to some degree by HID availability on their next vehicle. These findings indicate that the availability of HID lighting on automobiles is becoming an influencing factor in vehicle purchase decisions.
Another finding of the survey was that 94% of the respondents said they would recommend HID to a friend. The study reveals that 81% of HID owners cite vision improvement as the number one advantage of having HID lighting equipped on their cars.
Of those polled, 94% said that they see better with HID lighting than with traditional halogen lighting, and 92% stated that they see obstacles in the road sooner. From an aesthetics standpoint, 88% of respondents agreed that HID lighting “looks better than regular lighting.”
The majority of the respondents also agreed that HID is worth the cost.
“Dorr’s research shows that drivers equipped with HID lighting appreciate the benefits that this technology provides in vision enhancement and vehicle styling, and that it meets the consumer’s value and safety expectations,” said David Hulick, product marketing manager for Osram Sylvania’s Automotive Lighting division. According to Osram Sylvania, HID usage in the U.S. is projected to exceed a 13% application rate on new vehicles by 2007 because of its visibility benefits, such as enhanced peripheral vision and significantly improved forward light output over standard halogen lights. Originally offered on high-end European luxury cars, HID technology has gradually gained market share in North America over the past few years.
Osram Sylvania commissioned the research to capture the “voice of the consumer” regarding HID automotive lighting. One hundred and fifty people, from four states, were randomly selected from a list provided by R.L. Polk, a national data resource centre for automobile registration information. The study involved owners of 51 makes/models/years of vehicles with HID lighting available as either a standard or optional feature. Findings based on the entire sample of 150 respondents carry a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 8%.