At the presentation of the latest Jeep Wrangler in Austria, we had an elegant and interesting conversation with Cristina Calasso, Marketing Communication Product Marketing at Magneti Marelli, who lifted for us a veil of the magnificent activities and interesting history of Magneti Marelli, a company which stood at the cradle of the automobile.

A Marelli Magneto built in the ’20s. 

She brought us also into contact with her colleague, press contact Maurizio Scrignari, and we subsequently asked him more about the history and growth of the company. So watch out in our column for more about all this soon…

Magneti Marelli is now an important producer with headquarters in Reutlingen, Germany, dedicated to the development, production and sale of automotive exterior lighting products for all major OEMs worldwide. 

All this fits into a new and interesting path we want to walk with you dear reader, into the world of the supplier’s industry. We all know that supplier firms co-engineer and make (up) more than 50 % of our modern cars, yet we pay only scant attention to them. All the more reason to open for you these new horizons on our coveted site.

In this column we start with telling you somewhat more about the actual involvement of Magneti Marelli in the engineering and production of the latest generation Jeep Wrangler…

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In particular, the classic nose of the new fourth generation Jeep Wrangler integrates two full-LED headlights supplied by Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting, which combine tradition and advanced technology, inserting LED modules in the classic round shape.

The low beam module is composed of 7 LEDs plus 2 supplementary LEDs with a reflective system to improve visibility. The high beams use a module with 5 LEDs. The use of a full-LED system allows for a reduction of 0.7 grams of CO2 per kilometer, and reduces energy consumption by approximately 1/6, compared to traditional halogen modules.

Automotive Lighting technology has also been adopted for the new Jeep Cherokee model presented in Geneva, which is fitted with full-LED headlights and LED rear lights. The upper section of the elongated headlight carries the LEDs dedicated to DRL (Daylight Running Light), while two modules are located below for low beams, with 7 LEDs plus one reflective LED, and high beams, with 5 LEDs which illuminate the road with 1900 lumens, double that of a halogen system. Again, in this case, the use of LEDs allows for a significant reduction in terms of consumption and emissions.

Returning to the Jeep Wrangler, Magneti Marelli has also supplied the instrument cluster, which combines circular analogue elements with a 3.5” color TFT display or a modern state of the art configurable 7” HD color TFT display. The display provides information on safety systems such as Parking Assistant, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear cross-path detection, as well as the front and lateral inclination of the vehicle.

Magneti Marelli electronics also found in other brands…

Magneti Marelli is also present at the Geneva International Motor Show on Mercedes-Benz, on the flagship Maybach S-Class. This vehicle uses full-LED matrix front lighting systems with Multibeam technology, and LED rear lights. The car is equipped with the “welcome” function, which activates the lighting remotely with the unlocking and locking of the doors, with a dynamic play of lights completed with blue LED strips colouring the headlights. The headlights are equipped with ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam), which partitions the light beam in order to avoid dazzling vehicles in front.

Lighting for the Mini… 

Again, in the lighting sector, Magneti Marelli has also supplied the full-LED headlights with adaptive system for the new BMW X4 and the restyled 2 Series Gran Tourer, which also uses components for the suspension system supplied by Magneti Marelli.

Automotive Lighting is the Magneti Marelli division with headquarters in Reutlingen, Germany, dedicated to the development, production and sale of automotive exterior lighting products for all major OEMs worldwide. With a turnover of 1.8 million/€, 13,480 employees in 21 countries spanning 4 continents, Automotive Lighting has 16 production facilities, 2 research centres and 13 application centres. Did you know this?

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