Hyundai is hopping on the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto bandwagon later this year, and part of that move spells the end of the CD player in the majority of its cars.
Hyundai introduced its new Display Audio head-unit earlier this month, which ditches the embedded navigation system and other frills in favor of a "brought-in" approach that lets drivers connect their smartphones to handle multimedia and nav. If you're an iPhone user, the system supports CarPlay; if you're in the Google ecosystem, Android Auto pops up when you plug in your smartphone.
It's similar to what Chevrolet did with MyLink a few years back, removing most of the cruft and relying on the phone to do the heavy lifting. And like MyLink, that means the CD player doesn't come along for the ride.
"This is a way for us to give people a big screen, give them a rich delivery of content, and do it at a lower price that's available across more models," Michael Dietz, Hyundai's connected car head told Automotive News.
While Hyundai's cheapest models – those sold without a touchscreen – will continue to use a CD player, high-end models will also get a disc drive, like to appeal to their, um, mature customer base. But Deitz says that within a few years more than 60 percent of new Hyundai models won't come with a CD player, opting instead for the Display Audio setup.
"The audio market is becoming highly fragmented," says Dietz. "This is the best way to offer more content to customers."