Pursuits
A Relic Is Disappearing, Finally, From Car Dashboards in America
- They're on their way out to make room for bigger touchscreens
- But it's a very very slow death for the in-dash compact disc
Older people with trunks full of favorite albums on discs are still big spenders on new cars.
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Who knew? Automakers still bother sticking CD players into the dashboards of the majority of their cars.
That seems strange 14 years after the iPod ushered in the intangible music revolution. But now, finally, the in-dash device’s days might be numbered. Compact-disc players have been slowly following cassette decks into the automotive-interior dustbin for a few years, and their disappearance is suddenly accelerating. A couple dozen 2016 models are rolling out without homes for discs, particularly cars targeting younger buyers, including the re-engineered Honda Civic and every model in Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion line.