Tampa, Florida Auto Dealer Makes Switch to LED Site Lighting With No Money out of Pocket

Hillsborough County Based Car Dealership, Century Buick GMC recently installed high-end lighting to highlight its inventory, and it did so without a single cost showing up on its balance sheet.

Working with Arkon and its automotive sales team, Century was able to secure financing for the replacement of 100% of its exterior lighting.. That meant turning 128 820-watt metal halide shoeboxes and 14 250-watt wall packs into the same number of LED fixtures, each operating at a fraction of the wattage of its predecessor. With the power and maintenance savings outpacing the car dealer’s monthly payment on a 60-month financing plan, the decision to upgrade to LEDs was easy.

“When you sit down with an intelligent dealer, like [Century’s] Ralph Ghioto is, and show them the cost-benefit analysis, it really is a no-brainer,” Arkon Automotive Sales Representative Tom McQueen said. “If more people thought like Ralph, the world would be a better place.”

Arkon LED’s lighting engineers performed a site survey at Century and determined the company could enjoy better quality light with 30 280-watt LED streetlights along the front line, another 98 200-watt streetlights throughout the lot and 14 80-watt fixtures on its facility walls. The result was daylight-quality illumination with an estimated annual power bill reduction of $36,567.

Century was able to reduce its environmental footprint by 73.4% by making the move, with Arkon’s engineers custom designing brackets and handpicking lenses for each lighting fixture to ensure optimal light distribution. No light was wasted. No car was left in the dark.

“When people are coming in to spend $40,000, $50,000 on a car, if you don’t have the latest technology in lighting, what confidence do they have in you for the car?” McQueen said. “It is about cost and product presentation for the guests.”

What made Arkon stand out from the crowd of LED providers? McQueen, who’s done countless LED conversions for car dealers as founder of USA Lighting Solutions, said that in addition to price, it was about quality and service.

“One of the things this customer liked about Arkon is the technology is consistent with the look and image of the dealer,” McQueen said. “And, they were a local vendor with a presence here in the community. What Arkon is really good at is taking that hands-on approach to servicing the customer. Car dealers especially know how import that is, so they expect the same level of service, and Arkon delivers.”

Visit www.ArkonPower.com or email Info@ArkonPower.com to learn more about this or any of Arkon’s commercial LED projects.