Vehicle lighting apparatus with LED or EL

A vehicle lighting apparatus emits a spot light distribution pattern to be combined with a low-beam light distribution pattern emitted from a headlamp. The vehicle lighting apparatus includes a semiconductor light source such as a LED or an electroluminescence EL (1) formed with a rectangular light emitting element (5), and a lens (2) that projects light from the rectangular light emitting element (5) under an upper horizontal cutoff line of the low-beam light distribution pattern, as the spot light distribution pattern of a substantially rectangular shape.