How digital boom spells the end for in-car CDs

THE digital boom of the past decade has already spelled the end of space-clogging CDs in millions of homes.

Now one of the last bastions of the compact disc – the car – is beginning to fall.

On many new cars launched in the past 12 months, the CD player has been jettisoned completely or offered as an optional extra.

These include mainstream models such as the Skoda Yeti, Citroen C4 and the new British-built Vauxhall Astra.

The Vauxhall Corsa did away with CD players on all but the entry-level version when the model was introduced in 2014.

Experts yesterday said the discs were falling out of fashion because drivers were increasingly choosing to stream music from their smarting phones via Bluetooth, or from music services such as Spotify using in-car Wi-Fi.

Some vehicles offer 4G internet access built in.

According to JATO Dynamics, an automotive market research company, only 59 per cent of models on sale today offer a CD player as standard, compared with 79 per cent a decade ago.

More than one in ten of the 5,908 different car makes, models and trim levels on sale in the UK do not even offer a CD player.

Analysts predict that by 2019, only 35 per cent of cars worldwide will still boast a CD player.

Sue Barnes of JATO said: The trend away from in-car CD players has been steady over the last ten years, with some manufacturers not now offering the option at all.

‘This is being driven by developments in new technologies, resulting in increasing numbers of cars featur- ing USB audio connections for iPods or iPhones. In fact, 75 per cent of the models available today include a USB connection as standard.

‘Another important shift is the move towards the digital radio, a technology available in 56 per cent of vehicles sold today, that was not available at all ten years ago.’

Other popular models not offering a CD player include the Citroen C4 Cactus, BMW i3, Fiat 500X and Skoda Fabia, while the machines are optional only in the likes of the VW Golf, Renault Captur and Toyota Avensis.

Simon Hucknall, product PR manager for Vauxhall, said that the lack of CD players was ‘simply a recognition of the fact that most people now play music through their phones or devices such as iPods’.

He added: ‘We are not stripping out CD players because it is a cost issue, but because of a lack of demand.

‘People simply don’t carry 15 CDs around in their car glove box with them any more – instead they have hundreds, or thousands, of tracks on the device in their pocket.’

Ford originally sounded the death knell when it stopped fitting CD multi-changers – once considered a luxury – in 2011 because of the rise of digital music.

But although CD sales have been steadily declining for years, the players may continue to be a feature in some cars for years to come if cassette decks are anything to go by. Audi were still selling vehicles with cassette players as recently as 2006.

In the first half of this year, CD album sales in the UK fell 5.7 per to 21.38million – but sales of digital albums dropped 6.6 per cent, to 13.86million, as more and more people turn to music streaming services instead.

The British Phonographic Industry figures show the ‘stream equivalent albums’ figure was up 79.5 per cent year on year – to 11.5million in the first half of 2014.

‘People don’t carry CDs in glove box’