Car dealership lighting

Light as a success factor

Well-planned lighting in the car dealership ensures that the vehicles are optimally staged. Potential customers can admire the cars in their full splendour in the showroom and decide on a particular model more easily. In addition, the car dealership lighting also serves as a functional orientation aid for customers. If a workshop is attached to the car dealership, this in turn requires a completely different type of lighting, which enables precise work results thanks to optimum visual conditions.

Staging vehicles in an optimal and sales-promoting way

Guidance for car dealerships of all sizes

Complete lighting concept also for connected workshops

Your lighting project with Lights.co.uk

Car dealerships are complex lighting projects in which the most diverse requirements have to be combined. This means that the luminaires responsible for setting the scene and those responsible for the ambient lighting in the showroom must be harmoniously matched. Bright, uniform, true-colour and flexible lighting is essential in the workshop so that mechanics and technicians can carry out precise repairs or maintenance work on the cars for sale. All this requires a good lighting concept.

Rely on the lighting design experts at Lights.co.uk with a wide range of industry experience.

Lamps and luminaires for car dealership lighting

The lighting in the car dealership includes a large proportion of luminaires for targeted accent lighting. Exciting light-dark contrasts set the scene for the vehicles. Other lights are used for orientation and lighting in the workshop. In order to support economic efficiency in all areas of the car dealership, it is worth converting to LED lighting technology.

Advantages of LEDs for car dealership lighting

Energy savings in the showroom and workshop

Reduction in replacement and repair costs

Wide range of LED lamps and luminaires

Legal requirements for car dealership lighting

The legal requirements for car dealership lighting are set out in DIN EN 12464-1. This standard sets out clear lighting requirements for people indoors to ensure good visual comfort. The standardised requirements are specifically designed for the visual performance of people with normal or normally corrected vision. With a good lighting concept, the lighting in the car dealership fulfils all conditions for all workstations and their usual visual tasks, including, for example, working at a computer screen.

Various areas of application for lighting in car dealerships

In addition to the aesthetic and functional components of the showroom, the lighting of a car dealership also includes the workshop. This places high demands on the lighting concept, which also has to be precisely aligned to the local conditions such as room dimensions, ceiling height and the influence of daylight.

Basic lighting of the exhibition area

The basic lighting of the exhibition area must have special light qualities so that the high-quality exhibits, the glossy lacquer, glass and chrome are shown to their best advantage and at the same time glare from the reflective materials is avoided. Another important criterion for lighting quality is that the colours of the vehicles are reproduced naturally. As part of the lighting design, a basic brightness of at least 300 lux is ensured. The ceiling height in the showroom plays a major role in the exact calculation of the lighting in the car dealership. As a rule, the ceilings in car dealerships are higher than in conventional retail outlets. Corresponding luminaires with high luminous flux include LED spotlights, LED tubes or LED continuous-row lighting systems labelled "HO" (High Output). LED panels are also popular for diffuse, glare-free showroom lighting. LED lighting solutions offer a wide range of options for creating an aesthetic display and a pleasant shopping experience for customers.

Lighting as a signpost and orientation in the car dealership

The lighting in the dealership also serves as a signpost for customers who are entering the dealership for the first time and need to orientate themselves. LED strips are a good way to mark the routes to the exhibition areas. By subtly illuminating the floor, they gently guide customers through the showroom and give them a clear orientation aid. In addition, accent lighting can be used to focus on specific locations in the room, e.g. certain car models. LED lights with a low beam angle and high luminous flux, which are positioned exactly above the car, are suitable for this purpose. The illuminance is between 500 and 1000 lux - the vehicle is therefore illuminated much more brightly than the rest of the exhibition space, which draws more attention to this object. In addition to the vehicles themselves, the accent lighting is also used to mark information stands and service areas so that customers can find them more easily. LED track spotlights are a flexible lighting solution for accent and ambient lighting, which make it possible to illuminate different areas in the car dealership individually and as required.

Workshop lighting in the car dealership

The lighting in the workshop at the dealership is very different from that in the showroom. While the focus in the showroom is on an appealing presentation of the vehicles, an efficient working environment is the primary goal in the workshop. Lamps with UGR< 19 must be selected as basic lighting in the workshop in order to minimise glare and reflections. LED panels or indirect general lighting, e.g. LED strips, are suitable for this purpose. The illuminance in the workshop should be 300 to 500 lux depending on the work being carried out there, 800 lux for painting work and even up to 1,000 lux for repairs and inspections. If an area in the workshop, e.g. workbenches, requires a higher level of brightness, LED spotlights or LED track spotlights can be used to intensify the lighting. The choice of light sources also plays an important role. For general lighting, a CRI of Ra 80-89 must be aimed for, in the paint shop Ra 90-99. The colour of the light also plays an important role in the workshop of the car dealership. The lighting should correspond to daylight as far as possible and therefore have a colour temperature of at least 6,500 Kelvin.