​​The innovative micro-optics-based lighting technology is setting new standards in design freedom, scalability, and energy efficiency – and is already in series production for rear and front applications. Yesterday it was honored in Brussels.​

^{Wednesday 2025-11-19}

FORVIA HELLA has been honored with the prestigious CLEPA Innovation Award for its FlatLight | µMX technology. The award ceremony took place last night in Brussels. The CLEPA Innovation Award, organized and presented annually by the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (Comité de Liaison Européen des Fabricants d’Équipements et de Pièces Automobiles, CLEPA), recognizes particularly outstanding or innovative achievements by automotive suppliers. The FlatLight has previously been honored with the CES 2024 Innovation Award.

FORVIA HELLA’s FlatLight | µMX technology is based on an innovative LED light guide concept using so-called micro-optics—optics that are smaller than a grain of salt. Thanks to the extremely low module depth, the required installation space is reduced by up to 90 percent, to just five millimeters. Since multicolored combinations of daytime running, indicator, and position lights (or rear, stop, and indicator lights) can be implemented in a single optical element, the FlatLight technology opens up entirely new possibilities for designing front and rear lighting. Another key advantage of FlatLight is its efficiency: compared to similar systems on the market, it is about 40 to 80 percent more energy-efficient per technical application and around 80 percent lighter—while maintaining consistently high light performance and homogeneity.

Dr. Michael Kleinkes, who is responsible for global lighting development at FORVIA HELLA, said: “With the CLEPA Innovation Award, we have received one of the world’s most important and respected honors in the automotive industry. For the innovative strength of our teams, this is once again a great recognition, of which we are very proud. Our goal is to bring technologies into series production that set new standards in the automotive sector and are equally attractive and economically viable for both the premium and volume segments. The fact that we have achieved this with our FlatLight technology is underscored not only by this year’s CLEPA Award—but also by the various customer projects we have already been able to win for our FlatLight.”

FlatLight technology first went into series production last year as a rear lamp application, followed by its use as a daytime running light in the vehicle front in the autumn of this year. In total, FlatLight from FORVIA HELLA is already part of customer projects with a total volume in the mid three-digit million euro range. The FlatLight technology is produced at the Slovakian lighting plants in Kočovce and Bánovce. The development of the FlatLight modules takes place at the company headquarters in Lippstadt (Germany), while customer-specific applications are developed at the sites in Ljubljana (Slovenia), Mohelnice, and Ostrava (Czech Republic).

Looking ahead, the FlatLight technology is to be rolled out globally and on a broader scale. As this is a product family, different technological variants can address the requirements of various markets and target customers: for example, the FlatLight µDO variant, which does not use films, represents a commercially attractive alternative for the volume segment. The focus is also particularly on the American and Asian markets. While demand for homogeneous, high-quality illumination—such as that offered by FlatLight—is rising in the USA, future product developments for the Asian market can, for example, be supplemented with new styling effects.

“Our FlatLight product family has many advantages: above all, high energy efficiency, significantly reduced installation space requirements, and new lighting functionalities. In addition, it is highly flexible in its applications. All of this gives it the potential to become a new standard for area lighting in signaling functions,” says Head of Development Michael Kleinkes.