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Experts predict the death of the in-car CD player

With more drivers turning to music streaming services, analysts say only a third of cars will have CD players in three years’ time

Many new car models launched in the last 12 months have offered the CD player only as an optional extra, while others have abandoned the music mode entirely
Many new car models launched in the last 12 months have offered the CD player only as an optional extra, while others have abandoned the music mode entirely Credit: Photo: Alamy

The days of compact discs clogging up vehicle glove boxes and strewn over passenger seats will soon be over as analysts predict the death of the in-car CD player.

Just over a third of cars worldwide will boast a CD player in 2019, according to experts, as more drivers choose to stream their music via Bluetooth or Wifi from their devices.

Many new car models launched in the last 12 months have offered the CD player only as an optional extra, while others have abandoned the music mode entirely.

These include mainstream models such as the Citroen C4, the Skoda Yeti 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.

JATO Dynamics, an automotive market research company, revealed that only 59 per cent of models on sale today offer a CD player as standard, compared with 79 per cent 10 years 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.

According to analysts, only 35 per cent of cars worldwide will still boast a CD player by 2019, The Daily Mail reports.

Sue Barnes, of JATO, said this was being driven by developments in new technologies, resulting in increasing numbers of cars featuring USB audio connections for iPods or iPhones.

“In fact, 75 per cent of the models available today include a USB connection as standard,” she said.

“Another important shift is the move towards the digital radio, a technology available in 56 per cent of vehicles sold today.”

Simon Hucknall, product PR manager for Vauxhall, said the stripping out of CD players was due to a “lack of demand” rather than a cost issue.

“People simply don't carry 15 CDs around in their car glove box with them anymore - instead they have hundreds or thousands of tracks on the device in their pocket,” he said.

Figures from the British Phonographic Industry revealed that album sales in the UK fell 5.7 per cent t0 21.38 million in the first half of 2015, while sales of digital albums dropped 6.6 per cent.

The decline coincided with an increase in the number of people using music streaming services instead.