DETROIT – Headlights and taillights are some of the new components of a car that can now be upgraded for your own safety. Headlights and taillights have morphed from low-tech and low-profit commodity parts into some of the most premium components on today’s new vehicles.
Not only does today’s exterior lighting improve safety, designers to create unique signatures for their vehicles increasingly are using it. Picture the taillights on the Dodge Durango or the headlights on any Audi, for example.
Varroc Lighting Systems in Plymouth, Mich., near Detroit, came into being after Visteon sold its lighting business to privately held Varroc Group of India in 2012. It expects to see revenue growth of 13 percent in 2015 and book total business of $750 million. Some of the company’s largest customers include General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Tesla Motors.
The lighting unit traces its roots to 1879. The company strategy is to run lean. It operates eight plants close to its largest regional customers and seven technical centers.
Scott Montesi, 41, director of business and product development, spoke this month with Staff Reporter Richard Truett at the company’s North American headquarters.