Eight out of ten new car drivers would never consider buying a car without a radio, according to a survey of drivers across the UK, France and Germany.
The survey found:
- 82 per cent of drivers would not consider buying a car without a radio
- 75 per cent of all in-car listening is to the radio, even in modern cars
- 84 per cent always or mostly listen to the radio on every journey
- 90 per cent believe the radio should always be free and easy to listen to
The research, launched at a European Broadcasting Union Conference in Geneva, found drivers consider the radio ‘as vital as tyres and a steering wheel’.
When drivers were asked to select the one entertainment source they would keep in their cars above all others, it was overwhelmingly radio:
- 69 per cent radio
- 11 per cent CD player
- 11 per cent MP3 player
- 7 per cent Bluetooth phone
- 1 per cent music streaming
The survey was commissioned by UK Radioplayer, a not-for-profit partnership between the BBC and commercial radio.