The death of the in-car CD player: New cars now digital only
Fri, 04 Oct 2024
The last new car on sale in Britain featuring an in-car CD player has been updated – with the CD player being replaced by a modern touchscreen unit.
It concludes the gradual demise of CD players in new cars and follows the in-car cassette player to the great scrapyard in the sky.
The last new car with a standard cassette player, the Lexus SC430 was sold in 2009. Tape players were replaced by CD players – and ironically, an even more modern form of music has led to the demise of the CD player.
Modern infotainment systems rely on digital music, either from DAB radio or from streaming services such as Spotify.
Systems such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also allow drivers to use their smartphone as a music hub, negating the need for physical alternatives such as CDs and cassettes.
A large touchscreen is also neater and offers more functionality than an in-dash CD player.
However, the Which? analysis that uncovered the demise of the CD player has also found that not everyone will be happy with the change.
Figures from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association show that CD sales actually went up in the first half of 2024.
"With 15% of the UK adult population reporting that they listen to CDs in their cars, this is a remarkably short-sighted move by carmakers to stop fans listening to the music they love," says its CEO Kim Bayley.
In-car CD players were first developed in the 1980s, but the technology was expensive. It became more affordable through the 1990s, and many manufactures began to switch from cassette to CD in the 2000s.
This means that there remain a lot of used cars on the road with a CD player, something that millions of owners with travel wallets full of CDs have become used to.
Indeed, in a recent Which? survey, many owners told researchers they were frustrated their new car was not fitted with a CD player.
There is one solution for CD fans who are happy to cast their new car net a little wider, though – the Isuzu D-Max pick-up is still available with a CD player. For now, at least…
Can I have a CD player fitted to my car?
