Ford to drop AM radio in new models, except commercial vehicles

[marmar]

(Detroit Free Press) Ford Motor Co. plans to stop putting AM radio in new gas-powered and electric vehicles beginning in 2024, including the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed.

"We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models," Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Free Press. "A majority of U.S. AM stations, as well as a number of countries and automakers globally, are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, digital and satellite radio options. Ford will continue to offer these alternatives for customers to hear their favorite AM radio music, news and podcasts as we remove amplitude modulation — the definition of AM in this case — from most new and updated models we bring to market."

Commercial vehicles will continue to offer AM radio because of longstanding contract language, Sherwood said.

Drivers often turn to AM radio for live traffic updates and weather reports, as well as emergency communication.

"I don’t know how many companies have dropped AM radio for EVs, but most of the German companies and Volvo have and now Ford," said Mike Ramsey, an analyst with Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Research Group, which specializes in digital transformation and innovation. ...............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2023/04/01/ford-am-radio-commercial/70062845007/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Without Rush, I guess hate radio isn't what it used to be.

[Meadowoak]

2. Good.

[pwb]

3. I have been hoping for this for a long time.

I hope others follow.

[bluedigger]

4. That should save virtually nothing in production costs.

And the stockholders rejoiced!

[Jirel]

5. Good.

Nobody is reliant on AM radio for traffic and weather, in the age of cel phones. But it does kill a lot of hatetrash-AM listening, so yay.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I dunno. I rely on detailed traffic reports

and weather on AM, esp. during rush hour.

[zipplewrath]

7. Their price sensetivity is amazing

I was working a particular program to build something and we needed a device called a "ball screw". You'll find one in any trunk or other backdoor lid that opens and closes with the push of a button. It's about the size of a Tootsie. Inside is a good dozen little ball bearings smaller than a BB. They were showing us an example of one and I noticed that it had way fewer balls than it could hold, and maybe would be beneficial to function. I asked if it was just a feature of the sample, and not of a production version. The answer was sheepishly delivered that no, their customer (a well known luxury vehicle manufacturer) had asked them to determine the absolute minimum number of balls that could be included to "keep the costs down". I had to express that we had no such concerns because we'd only being ordering on the scale of about a thousand and didn't want to worry about the 5 cent savings this would achieve. We'd rather have all the balls in hopes that a failure would never occur.

[MichMan]

11. Considering the volume of vehicle produced, savings can add up quick

Think of all the hundreds of components on a modern vehicle, and if you could drive the cost down by 5 cents on each one, it could add up to dollars per vehicle. Multiply that by the tens and tens of thousands that are made, and you are now potentially talking about millions of dollars.

I worked for a very large supplier to the auto industry. We were asked to reduce our price by 5 % annually; in fact one time we were presented with a demand for a 5 % retroactive price rebate by our biggest customer. In other words, they wanted a $8 million dollar check for parts that we had already sold them on cars they had already sold. We were told if we refused, all product many have be resourced to a competitor that would. One of our competitors did tell them no, and some of that product was sent to our plant instead.

Similarly, if you wanted to make a production process change to improve efficiency, you had to get their permission because you were changing something. Inevitably, if they thought it might improve your costs, they wanted a portion of that for themselves. It is a very tough industry to be in.

[zipplewrath]

14. But not much value to the consumer

The math is obvious for such large volumes. It does not however translate to value to the customer. The price of a car (or alot of other goods and services) aren't directly driven by the cost of manufacture, but by what the market will bear. Not having AM radio in a car won't save the consumer a dime, but it will present a "cost" to the customer that far out weighs the savings to Ford. Unfortunately, it's pretty much how free markets work.

[Freethinker65]

8. Seldom listen to AM radio any more, I now have a cellphone with unlimited data, but

When road-tripping, I sometimes still enjoy listening to obscure am stations with farm reports, offers to buy/sell/swap items, or basement/small town DJs playing what they like. Those opportunities will now be lost. Specific region tourist/travel info for stretches of roadways was (still is?) broadcast over AM. I assume most major city traffic and weather stations have an FM sister station.

[Botany]

9. good less hate talk

a local AM station (news electric power outages only) has 2 shit heads named Clay & Buck
who are devoid of any knowledge outside of talking about the border, fentanyl, that 1/6/21
people are patriotic fighters, and President Biden is out of touch.

the station also has a weekend guns are great show too.

[SomedayKindaLove]

10. Reminds me this 25 year old joke

During a test drive, the salesperson tells the potential buyer of the latest technological gadgetry in the car.

“If you want a certain type of music, all you have to is say it and that music will start to play.”

The driver doesn’t believe it, so the salesperson tells him to give it a try.

“Motown,” the man says. He is astonished as Marvin Gaye plays on the radio.
“Classical,” the man cries, and the sound of Mozart fills the car.

Just then another car cut them off.

“Asshole,” the driver screams.

The Mozart stops and words boom from the radio:

“Good afternoon, this is the Rush Limbaugh show.”

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. I hate to see it go, but AM has become nearly unlistenable

over the last forty years. I don’t mean the content; I mean the background noise.

I listen to KYW, WBZ, and KDKA overnight, as well as a bunch odd stations that carry “Coast-to-Coast.” I have to chose my power supplies for my radios one at a time, as switching power supplies generate noise that wipes out AM. Shortwave is a lost cause.

[yaesu]

13. Granted, 90 percent of am radio is rw talk crap but my fav oldies station is on am and

They are pretty much commercial free. Plus, I like to find some unique home grown stations while on the the road

[live love laugh]

15. This is a BFD bc there's a potential for AM growth and this

is now a barrier.

I see this as more than a just cost consideration. I mean, how fucking hard is it to keep AM radio in cars?

[tikka]

16. Good ol' boys can still listen to AM in the commercial trucks they drive