WorldDAB has released its latest market report, which shows that in the second half of 2020 more than 80% of new cars in key European markets were fitted with DAB+ radio as standard.
The organization notes that this increase reflects the impact of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), which came into force at the end of 2020 and requires all new car radios in the European Union to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio.
WorldDAB unveiled its latest report to coincide with its annual automotive conference taking place June 23.
“These results demonstrate that DAB+ is firmly established as the core future platform for radio in Europe. The recent progress in Germany, France, Italy and Benelux has been particularly impressive, and reflects the high levels of co-operation between players across the radio ecosystem,” said Patrick Hannon, President of WorldDAB, said.
“Looking forward, our goal is to ensure that the key benefits of broadcast radio — being free-to-air, independent of gatekeepers and reliable in emergencies — remain at the heart of listeners’ automotive audio experience.”
The WorldDAB report also highlights that, by the end of Q4 2020, nearly 100 million consumer and automotive DAB/DAB+ receivers had been sold in Europe and Asia Pacific — up from 92 million six months year earlier.
The organization has also released an updated infographic, which details the rollout status in 24 emerging markets including information on trials and population coverage in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
In addition, the infographic provides an overview of DAB receiver sales, road and population coverage, household penetration and the number of national stations on DAB/DAB+ compared to FM. The report covers Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
