Two thirds of new cars now with digital radio as standard

It has been announced by Digital Radio UK that nearly two-thirds of new cars now come with digital radio as standard, up from just half of new cars a year ago according to SMMT figures.

In March 2015, 64.9 per cent of new car registrations had digital radio as standard, up from 50.7 per cent the previous March.

An additional 10 per cent of cars also have digital radio available as a cost option, meaning that three-quarters (75 per cent) of new cars in the UK now have digital radio available as standard or as an option. The UK leads the way in Europe on fitting digital radio as standard in new cars. Norway, which recently announced a 2017 radio switchover, currently has 63 per cent of new cars available as standard or as an option.

March is the largest registration month of the year and the month of March 2015 saw a record 320,000 new cars sold with DAB as standard, an increase of 36 per cent year on year. In total 1.5 million cars were registered with digital radio as standard in the year to March 2015.

All of the top 20 selling car brands in the UK now offer DAB digital radio as standard or as an option on their models. The top 10 car brands fit DAB as standard in the majority of their cars. In March Hyundai became the latest manufacturer to start fitting DAB digital radio as standard in their models.