It’s the end of an era for in-car entertainment as passenger vehicles offered by GM won’t feature a CD player starting 2022 model year.
In the early 2000s, CDs were at their peak, and there was hardly a car on the road that did not have a compatible player. As time progressed, the world became more digitalized as the internet, and more notably mp3s, began to grow in popularity. People began storing digital files on USB flash drives and memory cards, a far more convenient and user-friendly method for enjoying music on the go. Unsurprisingly, CD sales declined 97 percent as a result, and several carmakers including Ford, Toyota, and Honda, started to remove such audio systems from their vehicles.
GM is the latest player to wave goodbye to the CD format as its passenger vehicles will no longer come equipped with a CD player from the 2022 model year onwards. Although the process was already well underway, considering that GM had already decided to ditch this feature in the Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, and Cadillac Escalade from the ‘20 model year. Now, the CD slot in Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans, which is currently available as a $150 option, will be removed too.
However, it’s not technically the end of an era for all GM products. For instance, the Chevy Silverado Medium Duty and Chevy Low Cab Forward trucks will still be able to play CDs. They are, however, categorized as commercial vehicles, and as such, are perfectly fine with slightly outdated tech.
Additionally, the 2022 GMC Savana and Express will not boast an infotainment system with various connectivity options similar to the ones found in modern cars. Instead, these two would come with old-school SiriusXM support and a bunch of extra speakers.
The controversial move might not be well received by everyone as some fans may still have extensive CD collections and prefer them over connecting via Bluetooth or USB cable to listen to music. However, nothing stops progress, and at some point, the new generation is already on board with streaming audio services like Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music. Just try asking Millenials when was the last time they actually bought a CD.
Of course, installing an aftermarket audio system is always an option—if you are lucky enough to own a car with an infotainment system that is not an integral part of the dashboard…
