Ford to drop AM radio in new models, except commercial vehicles

Ok, them iPad looking Dash's that have been appearing in vehicles as of late, have all the "Mirco Chip Electronics" needed for lowly old AM Radio. How much is "Ford" really saving?

Back in 2008, I messed up ordering 2 Focus. There was an "Entertainment Stick" option. A little stick, stabbed into the Steering Column, right side, low. right behind the steering wheel. This so called "Audio" option was $400. It looked clumsy and out of the way, and besides the Radio Stack was right there.

But this $400 option also gave you a Steering Wheel like this,

No Cruise Control!

So I investigated, found out that for $280, I could purchase a Factory Steering Wheel, with Cruise Control Buttons, .5 Labor to "Turn the Option On" for a total of $330, and I got a extra steering wheel.

My question is "How much did Ford save by not making Cruise Control Standard?"

CJH said:

^Can't you stream them through your phone and play in your vehicle?

Click to expand...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no...

-one station I listen to on occasion doesn't have a streaming option. The other one I listen to most of the time does, but streaming it isn't all that reliable (It seems to go down more than a handful of times each year)

-We are one of millions of people that live near the Canadian border and have access to Canadian radio stations. Probably the 2nd most listened to station for me is out of Canada, comes through crystal clear on AM radio in the car. But they block all streaming in the USA. If you are in the U.S....can't stream it.

-Finally, I'm one of those people, and I know there aren't a lot of us, but I am one of them that just doens't like to have my phone hooked up to my car all the time. The radio is for radio. In Dash is for navigation (not Android auto or car play through the head unit). The phone is for phone things. Unless there will be a full streaming option through the head unit without using my phone I'm not interested. And I know a lot of people don't feel that way, but from other conversations about this topic over the years, there are a lot that do feel that way also.

I just don't see a huge benefit to getting rid of AM radio in cars for the automakers.