The prize was awarded to the two winners in the presence of Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Dr. Hans Michel Piëch, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Matthias Müller and Khalid Qalam (Chief Technical & Marketing Officer of Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting). The Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize is awarded biannually to engineers, whose inventions affect the sustainable development of the automobiles.

In the year 2008, the two prize-winners and their teams gave a substantial contribution to the first series application of the LED lighting technology for the main headlamps of a motor vehicle. The appearance of the Audi R8 sports car was highlighted by the all-LED headlamps of Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting and signaled a leap forward in the use of this technology. For the first time all lighting functions, i.e. high beam, low beam, turn indicator, Day time running light  and  position light were all fully executed in LED technology. All light functions are realised by a total of 54 high-performance LEDs. With this development, Automotive Lighting again documented its leadership in lighting technology and provided an outlook on key aspects of future development: technology, design and energy consumption.

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Geringer, head of the Institute for vehicle engines and automobile technology at the Vienna University of Technology (TU) and also the chairman of the jury, in his speech explained the great importance of this development, "which marks a milestone in the application of advanced LED lighting for the automobiles sector, because at the same time, three benefits are used: Firstly, a significant energy saving, secondly, a massive life time extension and thirdly, a wide design freedom for vehicle styling.

The CEO of Porsche, Matthias Müller, emphasised in his speech in particular the technological leap that has been accomplished through the work of both partners. “Thanks to their persistent development work, it is possible today to obstruct light-emitting diodes as a light source in series vehicles." As compared to the established halogen and xenon headlights, the LED technology brings a much better illumination which enables clear safety advantages during night drives, especially the LED light sources are closer to the natural daylight. The human eye recognize the street and the road edge in the natural colors at night and distinguishes contrasts through this considerably better. Dangers are therefore earlier identified. Müller also spoke on the energy saving: "With the same light performance, a LED headlamp consumes only about half as much energy as conventional halogen headlamps. Therefore in the automobile, a reduction of the consumption of at least up to 0.2 liters per 100 kilometers is possible.

In view of the high customers’ demand on the consumption values of vehicles, this saving doesn't have to be underestimated." Müller emphasised above all the new design opportunities, which have been implemented in the automotive lighting design: "The LEDs can be exceedingly flexibly used as a tail light, daytime running light or low beam and high beam”. They allow the design of unique lighting brands and brand signatures that give each car brand in the dark a high recognition value. "One thing is certain: the LED belongs in the future vehicle concepts.”

Magneti Marelli's Automotive Lighting division has set new standards in lighting technology for many years. In the world's first all-LED headlamp in the Audi R8, over 20 innovations have been integrated. During the whole development period, more than 100 development engineers, lighting technicians and partners were involved at Automotive Lighting. For the innovative design of the headlamp, it was awarded the prestigious red dot award product design 2008. The most successful combination of advanced technology and attractive design at that time convinced the jury. Other awards for the Automotive Lighting this year include the red dot award "honorable mention" for the Mercedes-Benz CLS all-LED  headlamps with adaptive lighting functions and the Daimler Special Award Innovation.

The Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize of the Vienna University of Technology (TU), was donated by the daughter of Ferdinand Porsche's, Ms Kommerzialrat Louise Piëch. It was awarded for the first time in 1977 and since 1981 it has been conferred every two years to technicians whose innovations have made a decisive contribution to the development of the automobile.