All 2013 model year VWs will have DAB radios fitted as standard – good news for any fans of Radio 6 Music.  Some car companies have been a bit slow in changing over to DAB radios, despite the fact that the UK was originally planning to switch off the FM network in 2015. The government is currently refusing to confirm that date, saying a decision about the switchover date will be taken in 2013.

Partly because of the issue of car radios, the proportion of people currently listening via DAB is way below the 50% target set by the government as the point at which switchover could start to happen.

For those who have an analogue car radio (i.e. the vast majority of us), there are some clever systems appearing that will convert them to digital use (a bit like when people used a Freeview box with the old analogue TV signal).We have been using a DAB radio in our long-term-test Ford Focus and we certainly would not want to go back to analogue.  It has a wider range of stations and better reception, so it is a bit of a no-brainer.  However, what we really want is Internet radio in our car, which is going to become increasingly common over the next few years.