If Radio Wants to Matter in the Cars of the Future

Remember when buying a new car meant more than buying an entertainment system that also happened to contain wheels?

In other words, remember when you bought the car, not the entertainment system?

No longer.

Watch this US TV spot for the new Kia Optima. It compares the entertainment system “in most mid-size sedans” to a Rubiks Cube. The solution to that problem? Apple CarPlay! So doing stuff via your entertainment system in your car “is as easy as it is on your iPhone.”

This strategy will last right up until Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto) is embedded into every auto dashboard. Because then this feature will become a commodity rather than a differentiator. Just like the wheels – and the radio.

Naturally, this should serve as another signpost that consumers want all the power and simplicity in their pockets on their dashboards, no matter what happens on the radio.

If radio wants to matter in the cars of the future then it must matter in the smartphones of the present.