Automobile headlamp is an important part of automobile, which can provide road surface lighting in front of the driving direction for drivers and guarantee driving safety. It usually includes three parts such as light sources, reflectors and lenses. Principles of the three parts, domestic and foreign research progress, relative rules, light distribution testing and the classification of headlamps are introduced respectively. The designs of new LED headlamp are analyzed. Common design process of automobile headlamp is summarized. A popular adaptive front-lighting system (AFS) at present is introduced.