Well, up to now car manufacturers have been reluctant to install DAB radios due to conflicting standards across Europe. However, now the WorldDAB standard has been established, a single €10 chipset can handle all these different types of signal. Apparently.
I think the manufacturers are deliberately withholding the fitment of digital radios (or hybrid radios that can handle digital and analogue). The reason will probably be to create another overwhelming reason to change cars when it is suddenly realised that people will lose radio reception.
I can't see most new car owners happy to fit an £80 aftermarket device to their windscreen with suckers, which (at least for early adopters) will create a theft-target and need to be removed when parked etc.
Frankly these radios should be fitted as standard now - but as usual the industry is dragging its heels - no one is prepared to jump first when 10 Euros for a chipset are at stake. Yet, Vauxhall's digital radio upgrade costs £150 on lower-spec cars.
Milk the early adopters, create a massive radio headache for the rest of us... I can see "DR" as a new Autotrader selling point and cars without it will get reduced residuals, and give people a "reason" to upgrade their whole car by making manufacturer replacement radio models prohibitively expensive.
Cars with radio operated by touch-screen displays will be a particular problem (often integrated with sat nav and hands free phone), and who wants to buy a car without a working radio?
Luckily for me, this is not such bad news, as my customers commit for just 2 or 3 years - but would you buy a new car with super-flashy integrated radio, knowing that in 2015 it will be a MAJOR problem for resale, without a massively expensive dealer upgrade? People just won't want cars that can't get 100% radio.
Last edited by: LINGsCARS on Wed 3 Mar 10 at 07:21
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