MOBILITY NOW! PODCAST HOME EVENTS COMPANY NEWS LOCATIONS CAREERS CONTACT 1936 – 2019 Celebrating 83 Years of Collaboration and Innovation ▼ 2016 First Adaptive Driving Beam LED Headlights ▲▼ Lexus RX 450h For 2016, Koito worked with Toyota on the new Lexus RX 450h featuring intelligent ADB headlights for markets in Europe and Australia. ADB uses arrays of independently controlled LED projectors, cameras and sensors. These brilliant eyes watch the road ahead dimming, deactivating, and redirecting individual LEDs to safely block high beam glare for approaching vehicles and pedestrians. Rollout of ADB technology in North America is pending, with approval expected in 2017. ▲▼ 2015 First Economy Car With Standard-Equipment LED Headlights ▲▼ Toyota Corolla In 2015, the Toyota Corolla became the world’s first economy sedan with LED headlights as standard equipment on all models. Now NAL and Koito are accelerating the adoption of LED lights for vehicles at all price points with our new single-LED bifunctional projector. This little dynamo switches between high beam and low beam using a single LED, making it the smallest and lightest LED headlight available. In 2016, this technology won Automotive News’s PACE Award for product innovation. ▲▼ 2013 First Automobile With All-LED Lighting Front & Rear ▲▼ Lexus GS 450h In 2013, the Lexus GS 450h was the world’s first production automobile with an all-LED lighting system, plus auto-dimming high beams—all by Koito. The same year, NAL began development and production on our first LED headlamps slated for the Toyota Corolla. ▲▼ 2007 World’s First LED Headlights ▲▼ Lexus LS 600h With white light emitting diodes rapidly becoming more efficient, Koito developed the first automotive headlamp with LED low beams. Offering improved photometric performance and efficient heat dissipation, it debuted on the 2007 Lexus LS 600h—the world’s first production automobile equipped with LED headlamps. ▲▼ 2003 First Steerable HID Headlight System ▲▼ Lexus RX 330 In 2003, Koito successfully developed a new proprietary HID bulb with matching ballast, lens, reflector and lamp housing. Harking back to the center-mounted steerable headlamp on the 1948 Tucker, the Koito-Toyota collaboration developed the modern era’s first “steerable” HID adaptive forward lighting system, giving the 2003 Lexus RX 330 the unique ability to see around corners. “The base HID package throws superb light, and the steerable version — WOW!” (Car and Driver, July 2003) ▲▼ 1936 First Toyota Automobile and First Koito Headlamp ▲▼ Toyoda Model AA In 1936, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works launched a fledgling automotive department. The Model AA was the first automobile Toyota built, and it was also the first automobile with headlamps built by Koito. Amazingly, the Model AA pictured here is the only known AA in all the world. Today, 80 years after the rollout of the first Model AA, our shared histories include these, and other automotive lighting firsts. ▲▼ Lexus images courtesy of and copyright by ©Lexus, a Division of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. 1936 Toyoda Model AA images courtesy of and copyright by ©Louwman Museum, The Hague, The Netherlands. Toyota images courtesy of and copyright by ©Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Where Innovation & Technology Come To Light. See What’s Ahead. NAL SILICON VALLEY LAB ©2015-2021 North American Lighting, Inc. | A Koito Group Company Site developed by Roundtable North American Lighting, Inc. (NAL) is a Koito Group Company. NAL is the leading producer of innovative automotive lighting systems in North America. NAL is an equal opportunity employer. HOME CAREERS CONTACT PRIVACY POLICY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY