The DRM Consortium has announced that the Indian automotive market is showing the fastest digital radio adoption, within five years after DRM’s introduction.
Today there are more than 4.2 million vehicles on the road in India equipped with DRM receivers as a line-fit feature and at no extra cost to consumers. The domestic automotive eco-system around DRM includes chipset manufacturers such as NXP, tier-1 receiver manufacturers, and vehicle brands including Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, MG Motors, Mercedes Benz, and others.
According to the DRM India Automotive Group, there is a strong request by the whole Indian automotive industry for innovative content available via DRM accompanied by clear communication by the broadcasters toward the public. These measures and a firm decision on adopting DRM for the local FM services will give the market stability and certainty, resulting in continued strong growth of DRM receiver availability as a default feature in Indian vehicles.
“A decision to extend DRM to the FM band makes absolute sense. The Indian automotive industry has clearly expressed its request for having the single DRM standard extended to all broadcast bands,” said Ruxandra Obreja, chairman of the DRM Consortium. “Going forward, the DRM Consortium and the DRM India Automotive Group encourage the Indian government to mandate future cars to be equipped with DRM digital radio functionality, including support for Emergency Warning Functionality as a default feature, in-line with what has been legislated in other parts of the world.”