Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. reported earnings results for the year ended May 31, 2009. For the year, the company's group sales were down 17% to $4.7 billion compared to $6.1 billion a year ago. The company's operating result before interest and tax (EBIT) was $69 million. That is a decline of $144 million versus the comparable figure for the previous year.

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. will supply Mercedes-Benz with the continuously adjustable headlamps. Available as an option in Europe on the company's 2010 Mercedes E-Class models, the new system adjusts a vehicle's headlamps to traffic conditions and provides drivers with the best possible road illumination without blinding oncoming vehicles. The 'intelligent high-beam assistant' automatically switches to high-beam when the road ahead is clear. As soon as vehicles are detected within 2,600 feet, the equipment adjusts the range of the headlamps within milliseconds. High-to low-beam adjustments are activated once the driver reaches 35 miles per hour. The usual range of the low-beam is 213 feet, however, the new system can provide the driver with light up to the high-beam level, increasing the range of the headlamps to 984 feet, or the length of two-and three-quarters football fields. In the new E-Class, Mercedes offers the new lighting system in an option group that includes Bi-Xenon headlamps, the Intelligent Light System and LED daytime running lights.

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. will produce a new line of highly-economical and accurate digital sensors in late 2009 for select vehicles of a U.S. automaker. The new digital throttle-body position sensor will use a Single Edge Nibble Transmission (SENT) protocol. Engineers use the term 'one nibble' to refer to the transmission of four bits of data. In this case, one data-nibble will be transmitted with each pulse. The throttle-body sensors often are connected directly to the ECUs. Using the example of a throttle-body sensor where a travel angle must be detected, the sensor acquires data and converts it into a digital value. Hella pairs the SENT protocol with its CIPOS(R) (Contactless Inductive Position Sensor) technology. CIPOS sensors accurately measure travel or angle changes regardless of high temperatures and vibrations. The SENT protocol permits compact packaging. Two signals can be transmitted over a single wire, reducing the need for additional cables and cutting costs.