More than 10 models, MicroLED

In 2026, Micro LED car lights are favored by more and more automobile brands, and their application continues to accelerate. Recently, Mercedes-Benz and NIO have successively released their new models, all of which are equipped with Micro LED lighting technology, once again expanding the number of Micro LED lighting on cars.

Mercedes-Benz releases mid-term facelift GLE, with optional Micro LED headlights

Recently, Mercedes-Benz released the mid-term facelift GLE model in Europe. The new car uses about 3,000 newly developed or improved parts, and has achieved significant upgrades in appearance, interior and powertrain.

On the top of the head, GLE adopts a horizontally arranged star pattern. When the digital headlights are turned on, the blue ambient lights also light up at the same time. It is reported that in the GLE new car option list, Mercedes-Benz provides a new generation of digital headlight options composed of Micro LED and high-performance chips.

In the in-car display section, the new GLE comes standard with the MBUX Superscreen system, which consists of three 12.3-inch screens. In addition to scalable entertainment functions, the system also integrates AI software such as Microsoft, Google and ChatGPT. In addition, the new GLE is also equipped with an 18-inch AR-HUD for the first time.

NIO ES9 has started pre-sales, equipped with HDPL Micro LED car lights

On April 9, NIO officially released and started pre-sales for its flagship SUV model ES9. The pre-sale price of this SUV, positioned as a smart electric executive flagship, starts from 528,000 yuan, and the Bass battery leasing plan starts from 420,000 yuan. It is expected to be officially launched and delivered at the end of May.

ES9 demonstrates the application results of cutting-edge technology in the fields of vehicle display and lighting. In the car display section, NIO ES9 is equipped with a 48-inch Mini LED SkyLine screen. The screen has 1,610 partitions, a resolution of 5K, a brightness of 1,200 nit, and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. After applying QD film technology, it has 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and 10-bit color depth.

At the same time, the car is also equipped with multiple displays such as a 15.6-inch OLED central control screen, two 16-inch NIO Link exclusive executive screens, an 8-inch AMOLED central control screen that can be lifted and lowered. All displays in the car and the intelligent interactive assistant NOMI are exclusively provided by HIWAY.

In terms of lighting system, Weilai ES9 is equipped with double-layer Double-Dash crystal diamond daytime running lights, which presents a diamond effect with over 6826 micro-cut facets. The step-shaped headlights below it integrate low beam lights, HDPL smart high-definition projector headlights and ADB headlights.

Among them, HDPL intelligent high-definition projection headlights use Micro LED technology, with a high-beam illumination distance of up to 600 meters, a lighting width that can cover 6 lanes, support S-shaped pilot light carpet and 50㎡ welcome light curtain, and have three dynamic lighting effects: "Avenue of Stars", "Starry Sea" and "Star Curtain". This configuration echoes NIO’s previously released flagship sedans ET9, ES8 and other models, marking the continued penetration of Micro LED lighting technology in NIO’s high-end product line.

Micro LED car lights are accelerating penetration, and the industry chain is collaborating to promote technology upgrades

As the process of automobile intelligence accelerates, car lights are evolving from simple lighting tools to information interaction carriers, and Micro LED has become a key technology representative driving the development of car lights. As the technology becomes increasingly mature, the application of Micro LED car lighting technology in high-end and luxury models has been accelerating recently.

In addition to the recently pre-sold NIO ES9 model, the new Audi Q3 headlights launched in early April this year are also equipped with ams and OSRAM EVIYOS HD25 high-pixel LED lighting chips. Each spotlight contains 25,600 individually controllable Micro LEDs with a size of 40 μm.

In March, Mercedes-Benz released a new pure electric luxury MPV model VLE equipped with a Digital Light digital headlight system using Micro LED technology.

The recently released mid-term facelift S-Class, pure electric GLC SUV and other models are also equipped with Micro LED pixel headlight technology. Among them, the Digital Light digital headlight system installed in the mid-term facelift of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class integrates up to 25,000 Micro LEDs in a single headlight and 50,000 Micro LEDs in dual lights.

Mid-term facelift of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class

In March, the Jikrypton 8X released by Jikrypton is equipped with Freya Hella's "vast star diamond matrix headlights", which are based on the new generation of high-resolution matrix lighting module SSL|HD technology and have about 25,000 independently controllable high-resolution LED chips.

JiKr 8X

Judging from the supply chain situation, foreign companies are still the main promoters of Micro LED car lighting technology. For example, the EVIYOS HD 25 product launched by ams Osram integrates 25,600 independently controllable Micro LEDs and has been used in many high-end models of domestic and foreign brands.

Domestic companies are also actively promoting the advancement of Micro LED car lighting technology to meet the needs of the domestic new energy vehicle market and the global automotive market that will continue to grow in the future. At the 21st ALE 2026 Auto Lighting Exhibition held in March this year, domestic LED companies demonstrated the latest Micro LED auto lighting technology trends.

For example, Sanan Optoelectronics displayed a 25,000-pixel Micro LED pixel headlight; BOE Huacan Optoelectronics displayed a 10,000-pixel ADB car light with 41,140 Micro LEDs; Nationstar Optoelectronics displayed a 40,700-pixel digital Micro LED light source module; Jingneng Optoelectronics displayed a 40,700-pixel Micro LED light source, and Jinko Electronics is laying out car-grade Micro LED with 1,000-level, 10,000-level to 100,000-level pixels. Among ADB light source technologies and products...

Domestic LED companies are further increasing the number of pixels in Micro LED car lights, with higher performance products, in order to form differentiated competitive advantages in the future global car lighting market, and also bring more high-end multi-functional pixelated lighting products to the global automotive industry.

Summary

With the efforts of the upstream and downstream industries and the application of terminal OEMs, Micro LED is gradually entering the automotive lighting market.

From the perspective of technological development, Micro LED car lights are evolving towards higher pixel density, lower energy consumption, and lighter weight. Compared with other car lighting technology solutions, Micro LED has the characteristics of higher brightness, higher reliability, smaller size and lower weight, and will have more cost advantages in future large-scale mass production.

Judging from the market situation, looking into the future, Micro LED car lighting technology and market demand will continue to improve. According to the analysis of "TrendForce 2025 Global Automotive LED Market - Lighting and Display Product Trends", the introduction of Mini/Micro LED technology is expected to become one of the factors driving the development of ADB headlight applications. By 2029, the global ADB headlight penetration rate has the opportunity to reach 21.6%, and Micro LED car light technology will expand its application.