CD Players: Going the Way of the Dinosaurs?

Are dash-mounted CD players going the way of the dinosaurs? Will they be obsolete before we know it, just like what happened to the 8-tracks and quadraphonic sound?

A vice president from Siemens VDO seems to think so, and thinks that it would even be good riddance for us all. At the Ward's Auto Interiors Show in Detroit last week, Frank Homann, vice president of Siemens VDO's Interior Electronics Solutions group said that the never-ending advances in digital music devices, the take-them-everywhere cell phones and finicky customers who expect to customize their vehicles with portable devices, will push CD players out of most vehicles as early as 2012.

The demise of the dash-mounted CD, Homann said, will free up valuable space on the dash for all the other cool gizmos drivers can not do without these days, like the cell phone, personal digital assistant and music player.

Already many manufacturers are putting new sound technologies in their vehicles.

DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group for example, has offered its U Connect system to allow people with Bluetooth phones to connect to a speaker phone in the car for the past two years. Recently the automaker has introduced the My Gig system which will burn CDs to a 20 Gig hard drive in the dash. Now with something like that, who needs a CD player right?

Later this year Ford Motor Co. is also set to introduce its Sync system – an innovation that will connect a driver's phone to the vehicle, as well as allow an iPod or other music device to be controlled by the car's stereo. The system can also play music saved on a flash drive by connecting to a USB port in the car.

Chris Dragon however, director of marketing for audio company Harmon/Kardon, doesn't see carmakers opening their dashes to just any devices, "(Carmakers) make a lot of money on those technology packages that include CD players and other things," he said. "I don't see them opening up their electrical architecture to outside people any time soon."

Many of the changes in future interiors will start in the more nimble aftermarket arena, Dragon said. Harmon/Kardon sells a number of aftermarket devices that are popular with consumers, including the Guide and Play GPS 500 that can store music and movies, as well as GPS navigation.

Homann says automakers could save between $20 and $40 a vehicle if they eliminated CD players. They also could save money in other ways, such as consolidating some of the electronics behind the dashboard, he noted. But all of this will have to happen over a period of time.

Most new models in the market now come with an auxiliary input jack to allow owners to plug and play their music devices. Carmakers have also recognized the need to have more electrical sources in a vehicle so drivers can recharge their phones, iPods and laptops.

In 2006, Infiniti -- maker of quality Infiniti oxygen sensor– was first in the industry to offer a hard drive for storing music in its 2007 Infiniti G35.