How to Choose the Right LED Lighting for Car Dealerships and Workshops
There is no single “best” lighting solution for a car dealership.
A modern automotive site can include a showroom, workshop, service reception, parts department, spray booths, offices, customer waiting areas and external spaces, and each one needs something slightly different from its lighting.
That is why choosing lighting for an automotive site is less about finding one product and more about understanding what each area needs to do.
Over the years, TEP has supported lighting projects across a wide range of automotive environments, and we have seen first-hand how much the requirements can change from one part of a site to another.
So, if you are planning a dealership refurbishment, replacing older lighting or reviewing energy use across an existing site, what should you be thinking about?
You also need to hit the required lumens (lighting) levels for each area.
What is the best lighting for a car dealership?
The answer depends on the area you are lighting.
In a showroom, lighting needs to help vehicles look their best while creating a bright, professional environment that feels right for the brand and comfortable for customers.
Move into the workshop and the priorities change. Visibility, consistency and accuracy become much more important.
Parts areas need practical lighting that helps teams work efficiently. Offices and customer areas need to be comfortable. External lighting needs to support visibility, safety and security.
Spray booths – lighting levels/qaluity and suitable for a hazardous environment.
This is why automotive sites benefit from being looked at space by space, rather than trying to apply one solution everywhere. Why Automotive Lighting Needs t… - not sure what this is?
What should you consider when choosing showroom lighting?
Showroom lighting has two jobs to do.
It needs to provide good general illumination, but it also contributes to how vehicles and the wider space are presented.
Things worth considering include:
how vehicles are positioned and displayed
the colour and finishes within the showroom
glare and reflections
customer circulation
areas used for handovers or consultations
natural daylight
controls and different lighting requirements throughout the day
energy consumption and operating hours
required lighting levels
The aim is not simply to make the showroom as bright as possible.
It is to create an environment where vehicles can be presented clearly and customers feel comfortable spending time.
What lighting works best in an automotive workshop?
Workshop lighting is much more task focused.
Technicians need to be able to see clearly when carrying out detailed work, so consistency and visibility are important.
When reviewing workshop lighting, it is worth looking at:
whether there are dark or poorly lit areas
shadows around work bays
the height and layout of the space
where detailed tasks are carried out
how long lighting is operating each day
durability and maintenance requirements
opportunities to improve energy efficiency
required lighting levels
Older workshop lighting can also be expensive to run, particularly in areas with long operating hours.
Replacing inefficient fittings with suitable LED alternatives can therefore improve the working environment while also reducing energy use and ongoing maintenance.
What about parts departments and storage areas?
These areas may receive less attention than the showroom or workshop, but they still play an important role in the day-to-day running of a dealership.
Good lighting can make stock easier to identify, improve visibility within shelving and storage areas and create a better working environment for teams.
The layout is particularly important here.
Lighting needs to work with racking, shelving and circulation routes rather than simply illuminating the room from above.
How should offices and customer areas be lit?
Lighting in office, reception and customer waiting areas needs a different balance again.
These are spaces where people may be spending longer periods of time, so comfort becomes increasingly important.
The lighting should support everyday tasks without feeling unnecessarily harsh.
In customer-facing areas, it also contributes to the overall impression of the dealership, so it needs to sit comfortably alongside the wider interior design and brand environment.
Don’t forget external lighting
External areas can account for a significant part of an automotive site.
That might include:
car parks
vehicle display areas
entrances
pedestrian routes
loading or service areas
site perimeters
Here, lighting needs to help people and vehicles move safely around the site after dark while also supporting security and visibility.
Operating hours are worth considering too. Controls can sometimes help avoid lighting areas at full output when it simply isn’t needed.
Can LED lighting reduce dealership and workshop energy costs?
Often, yes.
For sites still operating older or inefficient lighting, LED upgrades can help reduce the electricity used for lighting.
But changing the fitting is only part of the picture.
It is also worth considering:
whether areas are being over-lit
how long lighting remains on
whether occupancy or daylight controls could help
whether different areas need to operate independently
product lifespan and replacement requirements
ongoing maintenance
A good lighting review can therefore look beyond the initial energy saving and consider the longer-term cost of operating the system too.
What should you look for when planning an automotive lighting upgrade?
Before choosing products, we would usually suggest starting with a few fairly straightforward questions.
What isn’t working with the current lighting? - Is it energy use, visibility, maintenance, inconsistent lighting or a combination?
How is each area actually used? - The answer may be different for every part of the building.
Are other refurbishment works taking place? - If ceilings, layouts, electrical infrastructure or interiors are changing, it often makes sense to consider the lighting at the same time.
Are there opportunities to use controls? - Not every fitting needs to operate at full output all day.
Will the products be readily available in future? - Maintenance and replacement are much easier when availability has been considered from the start.
Is this one site or part of a wider programme? - For multi-site operators, consistency can matter, but every building may still need individual consideration.
When should a lighting supplier get involved? - Ideally, before everything has been finalised.
Lighting is often one part of a wider dealership refurbishment or upgrade, and there may already be designers, contractors, consultants and installers involved.
We are not there to complicate that process.
Our role is to support the lighting side where we can be useful.
That might mean reviewing an existing specification, helping source the right products, suggesting alternatives where cost or availability is an issue, looking at energy efficiency or helping work through the requirements of different spaces.
Sometimes it is a straightforward supply job.
Sometimes there is more to work through.
Either way, it helps to have the conversation early.
Proof in practice: Vertu Motor Group
TEP has supported Vertu Motor Group with a major lighting upgrade programme across its estate, initially covering 130 sites and later expanding to more than 190 locations. The work has included offices, workshops, parts departments, call centres, showrooms, spray booths and external areas.
That breadth is a useful example of why automotive lighting needs to be considered space by space. The requirements in a workshop can be very different from those in a showroom or office, even when they sit within the same estate.
The programme has also delivered measurable improvements in energy use, costs and working conditions, while giving Vertu a more consistent approach across multiple locations.
Vertu’s Group Project Manager, Derick Newton, said the project had delivered substantial cost savings and reduced environmental impact, while the improved lighting quality had also been well received by staff.
What about industrial and other workshop environments?
Many of the same principles apply beyond automotive sites.
Industrial units, engineering workshops, warehouses and other practical working environments also need lighting designed around:
the tasks being carried out
visibility
operating hours
building height and layout
energy use
maintenance
durability
safety
Again, there is rarely one answer that works everywhere.
Understanding the space first makes it much easier to select the right solution afterwards.
Need help with a dealership or workshop lighting project?
TEP has been supplying electrical and lighting products for 106 years, but the principle behind what we do has remained fairly simple: understand what the customer needs and help find the right solution.
Today, that can mean working directly with a business or alongside the contractors and wider teams already involved in a refurbishment or upgrade.
If you have a dealership, workshop or industrial lighting project coming up, send us the brief, drawings or details of the existing site.
We are always happy to take a look and talk through the options.
Get in touch if you’d like to discuss how we could help with your next project:
📞 01325 467563
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