Vehicle ownership remains strong and having access to an AM/FM radio when purchasing a new car is important to the majority of consumers, a new study says.
DTS, a subsidiary of Xperi, released a connected car report that surveyed 3,217 U.S. consumers who either own or lease a vehicle in September. Its findings revealed 62% of consumers would not buy a vehicle without a built-in AM/FM radio.
Nearly all of those surveyed reported that personally having a vehicle was important to them. Eighty-eight percent reported using audio features in the car, a figure DTS noted has remained steady over the past two years.
The survey also highlighted the notion of using a vehicle as a “third space,” assuming the first two spaces are the home and workplace. Among the respondents, 46% — including more than 60% of Gen-Z and millennials — view their vehicle as a third space. Of those who use it in this manner, 41% said they spend 30 minutes or more “taking time alone” in their car.
[Related: “How Do We Navigate the Future of Automotive Connectivity?”]
The use of video in cars also continues to climb. Forty-seven percent of respondents reported watching video content in their vehicle, up from 31% in 2022 when DTS last conducted the survey. The majority said they watched videos while parked, though some admitted to consuming videos while in motion. Most video sessions reported were under 20 minutes and primarily involved short-form video.
DTS said the findings prove that claims (prior to the Covid-19 pandemic) predicting the demise of personal vehicle ownership are unfounded. The report also pointed to the slower than anticipated rise of self-driving cars. In the survey, 70% of respondents said they do not trust self-driving technologies.
Xperi is best known in the radio industry for its HD Radio and DTS AutoStage technologies, which are part of a broader Xperi corporate strategy that also includes in-cabin sensing and other in-car technologies.
