All new BMW models launched in the United Kingdom will have DAB digital radios fitted as standard across the entire range starting January 2013.
The company currently provides digital radio as an option on new models and as standard in some high-end models, including the 7 Series, and the carmaker has also offered owners an opportunity to retrofit their cars with this service.
At the recent Drive 2 Digital conference held in London on Nov. 5, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey said that digital listening represented one third of all radio, and that a quarter of new cars were now fitted with digital radio as standard.
>Car companies Ford, Vauxhall and VW have also announced plans to accelerate their transition to providing digital radio as standard in new models. According to SMMT, in September 2012 already 26 percent of all new cars had digital radio as standard, and Ford of Britain confirmed 50 percent of their new cars now come with it as standard.
Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, called the BMW announcement “a real tipping point on the transition to offering digital radio in all new cars.”