Hyundai to the CD Player: “Buh-bye.”
The CD player in my 2012 car has been used exactly twice. I know this because I remember both occasions. Meanwhile, a disc has never, ever darkened the slot of the CD player in my wife’s SUV. We’re both happy with radio, satellite radio and plugging in our smartphones. Bring CDs into the car? Why?
And we’re not alone. CD players are slowly starting to disappear from dashboards. A year ago, a couple of GM models aimed at Millennials ditched CD players when market research indicated that they’d never, ever be used. And now Hyundai is doing the same.
In a press release, Hyundai revealed that their 2016 models will be CD player-less. RAIN reports:
- The new infotainment dashboard system is metaphor-mixingly called Display Audio
- Hyundai’s CES presentation won a USA Today “Editor’s Choice” award
- There will be Google and Apple versions of Display Audio
- FM radio has its own navigation button in publicity pictures, and SiriusXM is included
- The CD player is removed
They conclude:
Eliminating the CD player simplifies the audio stack, and clearly angles the disruptive effect of Hyundai’s dashboard toward the CD part of the recording industry, furthering the trend away from music ownership, and toward music access.
Yep. The in-dash CD player is going the way of the cassette and the 8-track.
