A lighting unit for a vehicle has a light source carrier with an arrangement of data lines. The lighting unit also has a plurality of light sources positioned on the light source carrier, each of which has an integrated control unit and which are interconnected via the arrangement of data lines in order to exchange data according to a predefined protocol. The rear face of the light source carrier has a plurality of cavities. The front face of the light source carrier is light-conductive, at least in the region of the cavities. The arrangement of data lines is on the rear face of the light source carrier and the line ends of the data lines lead up to or into the number of cavities. At least one light source is fitted into each of the plurality of cavities, such that each light emission surface is oriented towards the floor of the cavity and the light source is electrically contacted and held in the cavity by electrical and mechanical contact with the line ends of the data lines.