Ford reverses course, decides to keep AM radio in 'all' 2024 vehicles
CEO Jim Farley notes ‘importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system’
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Ford CEO Jim Farley announced Tuesday that his company is reversing course and will include AM radio on "all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles" after "speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system."
The decision comes a month after Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Detroit Free Press that the company was preparing to remove AM radio from "most new and updated 2024 models."
"For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update," Farley said in a tweet. "Customers can currently listen to AM radio content in a variety of ways in our vehicles -- including via streaming -- and we will continue to innovate to deliver even better in-vehicle entertainment and emergency notifications options in the future.
"Thanks to our product development and manufacturing teams for their quick response to make this change for our customers," he added.
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A Ford sign is shown at a dealership in Springfield, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Ford's CEO announced Tuesday that the company will keep AM radio in their vehicles. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke / AP Newsroom)
A Ford spokesman told FOX Business that "Our EVs, the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, did not receive AM broadcast radio capability for the 23 model year, so customers that have bought those do not currently have access to it. But, we are going to send an over-the-air software update to those vehicles to enable AM radio in their vehicles."
"The rest of our 23 model year vehicles -- those with internal combustion engines (ICE) - all came with AM radio. We had announced that beginning with the upcoming 24 model year (ICE) vehicles, that we would remove AM radio from them," he added. "But, today's announcement reversed that decision, so all of our Ford and Lincoln vehicles (both ICE and EV) will offer AM radio from the factory."
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Last year, Ford said it was going to remove AM radio from its 2023 model year F-150 Lightning electric trucks as "the frequencies involved in AM radio tend to be directly affected by the electromagnetic noise in EV propulsion systems," according to The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reported in late February that seven former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrators wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and a few congressional committees asking for the U.S. government to seek assurances from automakers that AM radio will remain a feature in vehicles, as it can deliver alerts from FEMA during natural disasters and extreme weather events.
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Ford Motor Company's Chief Executive Jim Farley speaks with analysts at Ford's Capital Markets Day, in Dearborn, Michigan, on Monday, May 22. He announced Tuesday that his company will keep AM radio in new models after "speaking with policy leaders a (Reuters/Joseph White / Reuters Photos)
"When all else fails, radio stations are often the last line of communications that communities have," Craig Fugate, the leader of FEMA during the Obama administration, told The Wall Street Journal.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, penned a letter to 20 EV manufacturers in December 2022 asking about the future of AM radio in their vehicles.
A Ford Bronco on display at the Brussels Expo on Jan. 13, 2023 in Brussels. Ford previously said it will remove AM radio from most of its new vehicles starting with the 2024 models, before changing course Tuesday. (Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Markey said "Broadcast AM radio is an essential part of our emergency alert infrastructure, but the responses to my letter show that far too many automakers are ignoring the critical safety benefits of AM radio.
"Although many automakers suggested that other communication tools -- such as internet radio -- could replace broadcast AM radio, in an emergency, drivers might not have access to the internet and could miss critical safety information," he continued. "The truth is that broadcast AM radio is irreplaceable. As the auto industry rightfully replaces the internal combustion engine with electric batteries, I will continue to work to ensure that automakers maintain access to broadcast AM radio in all their vehicles."