What is your information source on that?
The primary source for this info is not public information, but is quite reliable -- and it shows up in the much-vaunted real world, too; see threads like
this one. Beyond that, Wagner's entire lighting line has prioritized low price rather than high quality for many years. And beyond
that, the proof is right there in the RockAuto listing, where the Philips-made bulb sold by Wagner is half the price of the Philips-made bulb sold by Philips. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.
If they don't meet HIR2 spec they should be destroyed not sold for resell.
I'm sure they'll get right on that.
Here is a quick lesson in how this actually works: bulbs that meet all the legal specs
and meet an automaker's internal spec, which is virtually always stricter than the legal spec, get sold to the automaker for use as original equipment. Bulbs that meet all the legal specs get sold to the automaker for use as original replacement parts, and get sold as premium aftermarket parts. Bulbs that come pretty close to meeting all the legal specs get sold as standard aftermarket parts. Bulbs that come pretty close to meeting most of the legal specs get sold as economy aftermarket parts (Wagner tends to sit right about here). Bulbs that light up get sold as generics and off-brands. This is not unique to light bulbs; it works the same way for wiper blades, brake pads and rotors...really, almost any kind of auto parts you might want to name. And it's not unique to the US market, either. There is an enormous auto parts manufacturing industry in China, for example. They send their best parts to Europe and other markets where ECE type-approval applies. The parts that won't pass the Conformity of Production requirements in the ECE regulations, they send to the US market. Our system sets up a situation where faulty parts are very unlikely to be looked for, very unlikely to be found, very unlikely to spark a recall order, and if one is issued it's easy for an importer to slink out of reach (bankruptcy, etc) and evade the recall. And yes, there are second-line (and even third-line) parts from Japan, from Germany, and from pretty much every other country that manufactures items.
And even if we ignore that hierarchy and pretend we live in a world where all bulbs on the market meet the spec...the spec is really pretty wide. Consider an HIR2, which has an output spec of 1700 lumens +/- 15% at 12.8v. That "+/- 15%" means there is a 30% allowable range in output. 1445 to 1955 lumens, equally as legal. Same applies to HB4 (9006), that is 1000 lumens +/- 15%, so 850 to 1150 lumens, equally as legal. The advantage of being on the higher end of the allowable spec is obvious. And there's a tolerance for each and every dimensional specification, too, for filament size, shape, position, orientation, distortion, etc. A bulb that just barely meets those is going to give much worse headlight performance (poor beam focus = less seeing and more glare) than a bulb that's right smack-dab-on-the-nose to every spec. Both of those bulbs are equally as legal, but it's false economy to buy the $11 bulb that just barely meets the spec instead of the $19 bulb that meets the specs
well.
Even Sylvania's for $29.99 each from AutoZone say Philips on the bulb. Are those rejects also?
No.
I realize because the Philips are "LL" (LongLife) they may not be as bright as regular 9012 and especially the Vosla 9012+30
There is no "may" about it.
but since they're being modified to go into a 9006 lamp housing they're certainly "bright enough".
That's a fair point, but why leave potential seeing ability on the table? Most vehicles on the road have a severe deficit between what the driver needs and what they produce in terms of low beam light.
I'd certainly consider opting for the Vosla +30 but their life expectancy is a bit concerning.
Which would you rather buy and pay for?
This bulb for under $20? Or crash repairs and medical bills?