The car CD player, which fueled an aftermarket car radio boom for years, will be missing from many new cars in the near future.
Automotive News reports that by 2018, 12.1 million cars will come without a CD drive in North America, up from 331,000 this year.
For example, GM will roll out this summer a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS that has a CD-less radio option under MyLink. The MyLink radio has a 7-inch display, but lacks advanced voice control as well as the CD to keep costs down. The new Sonic made its debut last week at the Detroit Auto Show.
A second model, the 2013 Chevy Spark will also offer the CD-less MyLink option.
Automotive News reports that car makers want to shed the CD because they are expensive. Potential buyers of the Sonic and Spark report they are looking for lower cost systems.
CD players mainly appeal to older drivers, and it’s likely the CD player will die off along with the baby boomer generation, analyst Stratacom, Inc. told Automotive News.
Source: Automotive News via Kicking Tires
Thank god we have some more new technologies to sell such as BT Audio streaming, HD, APPs for radios, Pandora, cool new backup cameras, and new Android integration in many of the new 2012 Indash CD!
Keith is “right on” with his observation of the opportunities out there. Because as people purchase newer cars and once they experience these new technologies, they will want them for their 2nd vehicle. Add to it the report yesterday the average car in the driveway is the oldest ever, at 10.8 years old, we could not be better positioned in years!
Now the question is have you invested in the demonstration of these technologies in your store(s) to exploit them? There certainly have not been many exciting things in indash….I saw more this year at CES than ever. We truly have much to talk about in the coming years!
Just like the transition from cassette to CD, some customers will be hesitant to move away from the old CD format, even if they do not use it. The door is still wide open…it’s a process…demonstrate all of the reasons why to every customer.
Forget the CD in the unit….sell the sizzle!
Sorry, I’m a glass 1/2 full kind of guy. Everyone have a rocking selling year in 2012!
CD business is UP. Too bad there’s not much money left in it! Make more profit on the kit, harness and antenna adapter than the deck itself. Easy labor dollars though.
CD business continues to be the dominant category in mobile electronics, and for good reason. There are over 150,000,000 vehicles on the road today that are nine years old or older, meaning that radio replacement is still a viable area for people wanting not only a new CD player but tech such as iPod integration, BT, Pandora, HD Radio, etc., that was unavailable back in 2002. Selling our products to new vehicle owners is tough for sure, but there is a huge replacment market hiding in plain sight for those dealers willing to reach out and capture these customers.