In the 1920's, traffic safety was playing a bigger and bigger role. After the First World War, the car was no longer just a toy used by an exclusive group of gentlemen drivers. By then, it had become an everyday item used by many regular people and businesses. To reduce the risk of accidents on the increasingly crowded roads, many electronic companies came up with safety features for the auto industry.
Bosch set a special standard in this area with its fog lighting, which was patented in 1930. Until then, driving in the fog was a dangerous venture: while drivers could not see anything at all without lights, with them they saw only a "white wall" of reflected fog. The fog lamp, however, illuminated the ground directly in front of the vehicle. Pointing downward and directing a wide range of light to the left and right, it helped drivers steer their cars through the apparently opaque veil. The edge of the road - the site of sometimes dangerous gullies - came into drivers' field of vision as well.

The first Bosch fog lamp was designed simply and was not yet equipped with a diffusing lens that could focus, spread, and direct the cone of light. It was pointed at such a sharp angle that the center of the cone of light illuminated an area less than 10 meters in front of the vehicle.

Unlike today, drivers using the early fog lamps could use only one form of illumination: low-beam lights or the fog lamp. Under the German traffic code, no more than 110 watts could be directed to the front of the vehicle at any one time. The fog lamp alone consumed 50 watts. In addition, generators back then could not supply enough energy to run both the low-beam lights and the fog lamp. Depending on visibility, drivers had to decide whether they should use the low-beam lights or a combination of parking lights and the fog lamp.

In 1933, Bosch introduced an updated model equipped with a diffusing lens, and this light considerably improved the illumination of the roadway. The technical advance was given a new name. In 1935, the light assistant was known as the "curve and fog lamp." In 1936, it became the "Bosch wide-range beam", and in 1945 the name changed to "fog light".

In 1954, Bosch produced its first headlight with an integrated fog light as standard equipment. The decision seemed to be an indication that the era of the separate fog light was drawing near. Even later, however, after fog lights became a standard feature of integrated headlight concepts in medium-size vehicles in the 1980's, the fog lamp remained a popular Bosch product. But safety was no longer the sole reason for purchasing it. Because the "faces of cars" were beginning to look more and more alike, many customers wanted to give their cars an individual touch and adorned the front end with accessories not found on everyone's car.

Anyone who sees fog lights on a new car today - whether they are integrated or separate - will not see the Bosch logo anywhere. This is because Bosch and Magneti Marelli teamed up in this product segment in 1999. Their joint products are called Automotive Lighting.

Bosch fog light installed (1931)