LEDs and Autos

[Whelan]

I'm lost at the moment. Car companies who are going backwards or not moving forward enough.Honda for instance had LED taillamps on their refresh of the last generation Accord. Classy, sleek, and useful. Now with the All-New Accord they have switched back to a bulb??? I know this had to be a mistake. Why would you reverse your work like that. LEDs are brighter, light up faster, and last longer than a bulb, yet you cannot keep the trend, you go backwards instead. Even the Saturn Aura has LED taillamps.And for that matter. Hybrids...Most Hybrids like the Camry and Highlander have LED taillamps, but the other models do not? Why not just make them standard on the whole range. Are they that much more to make? I know LEDs use less power, is it to help distinguish that it's a hybrid?I would think in this day that LED lamps would be the standard on every car. Thousands of auto enthusiasts have converted their cars to LED taillamps either by themselves or with kits or replacements lamps. So why can't the industry get on board and make it a standard. But I guess that goes with my whole gripe on HID headlamps. Toyota offers it in their Sienna and Prius. Why not any other models, they obviously have the kits for them. In Europe I realize they have different lighting standards, every car uses projector style lenses I believe. It's like CD players and A/C, they've been out for awhile now so why are they even still considered an option on BMWs???

[ToolGuy]

My guess Honda reverted back to bulbs was due to costs under LEDs.I hear what you are saying though. One reason to buy the first model year because years after the company increases price and reduces options or equipment.

[altimar]

I think Toolguy is right; it's all about cost. LEDs may not cost that much extra, but even if it were only $5, they're going to save the money since they know that people won't refuse the car because it doesn't have LED taillights. They probably know that maybe 5% of people would even be able to tell the difference. I know you care about it and probably know lots of other people who care about it, but we're car enthusiasts. The majority of people really don't care.