In the vehicle development process, all components as well as a complete vehicle must be carefully tested and fully optimized. The optical measurement technique is necessary to bridge creative ideas of development engineers and objectives of experiments. Here, we demonstrate a development trend of the optical measurement technique by using several applications. It is greatly expected in the car body development that the physical body model is transferred into the date model as fast as possible. The measurement of 3D surface of the car body is an essential interface between the physical design model and the date model. This interface is a precondition for using VR technology, such as DMU. The first application introduces an interactive recognition of the surface structure in the 2D picture and an automatic generation of the surface model with optimal date thinning. Due to the increasing constriction of the engine department, it becomes important to permanently monitor the aggregate clearance during the development process. With any changes in design, the impact for a possible collision needs to be examined. An optical measurement system has been developed to determine the aggregate movement during extreme driving maneuvers. Based on the measurement data it is feasible to calculate the movement of any given point of the aggregate by using a CAD workstation or a PC. The next step of the second application is the automatic detection of the crucial zones by means of an enveloping movement surface around the aggregate. The realisation of this aim requires a network between measuring method and the technique of Digital Mock-Up (DMU). A car body consists of more than 500 parts, which are connected by more than 5000 sweat points. Each part is placed in a 3D-room and welded each other. The precision of the sweat process influences the assembly of all function elements of a vehicle, the engine, the transmissions, etc as well as the appearance of the complete car. In the third application, the optical coordinate system is installed in the body shop to do the on-line control for the product quality and to regulate the production process.