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Hino trucks become the first vehicles in Australia to fit digital radios as standard

Hino, a brand of trucks owned by  Toyota, has become the first vehicle manufacturer in Australia to fit digital radios as standard.

All new Hino 300, 500, and 700 Series vehicles will feature a multimedia unit, which includes a DAB+ radio.

“Hino is leading the automotive industry by including digital radio as standard and we are very pleased Hino truck drivers, who spend a great deal of time in their vehicles will now be able to experience digital radio,” said Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia.

BMW and Audi offer customers an option for DAB radios to be fitted, but not yet as standard.

In March, CRA reported that just 5.6 per cent of the metropolitan population listened to digital radio. In an interview in the November edition of Encore magazine, Guy Dobson, director of metro radio at Southern Cross Austereo, said that the future of digital radio partly depended on the prevalence of the technology in new cars.

“FM radio back in the 80’s only really hit when the Japanese put it into cars. No car, limited future I think,” Dobson said.

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