Read James Careless’ additional WorldDAB Automotive 2026 coverage of Radio France CEO Sibyle Veil’s keynote speech and research firm Fifty5Blue’s recent car audio findings.
The popularity of electric vehicles is putting radio’s foothold in the car at risk.
Those were the words of Lizzie Young, the CEO of Commercial Radio and Audio, the association representing Australia’s major commercial radio networks.
Young spoke at WorldDAB Automotive 2026 on June 11, in Frankfurt, Germany. WorldDAB is the global body that promotes the DAB/DAB+ digital radio standard.
She described EV penetration in Australia as a sudden escalation.
The market is being driven by skyrocketing fuel costs, Young explained, which are in turn exacerbated by ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
Those factors have pushed Australian EV adoption to record highs over the last year, she explained.
“For the first month ever in May, an electric vehicle was the number one selling car in Australia,” Young said.
In such a rapidly changing environment, Commercial Radio and Audio said it is aggressively fighting to ensure a permanent broadcast presence across every incoming dashboard in Australia.
Chief among these unique challenges, Young said, is the country’s vast size, which requires a hybrid approach incorporating AM, FM, DAB+ and streaming audio to cover it all.
Nationwide radio coverage is necessary to ensure public safety, she explained.
“It is critical because of that, and the fact that many Australians move away from these climate disasters in their vehicles, that we have robust emergency broadcasting capabilities in the car,” she emphasized.
To ensure that radio retains its dashboard dominance, Australian radio partners have invested heavily in a rebuilt, unified mobile app, the RadioApp, that features both commercial and public broadcasters.
Additionally, CRA spent the past year ensuring radio is discoverable on emerging platforms by forging strategic partnerships with DTS AutoStage, RadioPlayer and Visteon.
The advocacy group is also pushing the Australian government to include radio in its smart speaker legislation.
“We were told that we would have some legislation to review in March and that has now been pushed out for some very valid reasons about some very other significant issues,” Young said. “But we are confident that we will have legislation being drafted in the second half of this year.”
Ultimately, Australian broadcasters are not expecting automakers or politicians to simply hand them a legacy safety net.
“We really see this as a three-way partnership to do the right thing by consumers and listeners and car buyers,” Young said.
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