Friday, May 25, 2012
Motorists prefer in-car digital radio
These days when buying a new vehicle, drivers can choose a variety of snazzy gadgets; such as satellite navigation systems, in-car phones and touch screen technology.
But, according to a survey from What Car?, out of all the possibilities today’s motorist is most likely to pick digital radio as their first optional extra when getting a new car.
The poll showed 44% of buyers chose a DAB radio as their primary add-on, beating other technologies such as mobile internet and lane-departure systems.Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and CAP Motor Research LTD revealed that, as of March, car manufacturers were fitting in-car digital radios as standard into 23% of new vehicles.
Although this doesn’t sound like much, only 10% of companies fitted them in 2011 – suggesting digital radio is quickly becoming a must-have gadget.
Paul Everitt, CEO of SMMT, said, “New cars are increasingly being fitted with digital radios and we expect this trend to accelerate over the coming years with the majority of new cars being digitally enabled by the end of 2013.”
So, it seems that with an increase in the number of digital-only radio stations and improvements in signal coverage, tuning into DAB could soon become a common pastime when behind the wheel.
Me, I’m glad to have any sort of a music system in my car, as I long as I don’t have to listen to Radio 2.
Photo © Feeling My Age via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: digital radio, lane-departure, mobile internet, satellite navigation, What Car?
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posted by Fuse @ 4:32 AM 
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