Ford to expand Sirius satellite radio offerings

Tue., Oct. 19, 2004

Associated Press

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Monday it will begin offering Sirius Satellite Radio as a dealer-installed option in four more vehicles by year’s end and is targeting up to 20 vehicle lines for factory installation for the 2006 and 2007 model years.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury now offer Sirius as a dealer-installed option on nine models. In the coming months it also will be available on the Ford Escape and Crown Victoria and Mercury’s Grand Marquis and Mariner.

Sirius provides more than 120 channels of programming, including 65 commercial-free music channels and more than 55 channels of news, traffic, weather, comedy, original entertainment and sports.

“Naturally we’re thrilled to see Ford adding more Sirius availability to its great lineup of quality vehicles,” Sirius CEO Joseph Clayton said.

Sirius made headlines earlier this month when it announced a five-year, $500 million deal with shock jock Howard Stern beginning in 2006.

For now, Sirius lags competitor XM Satellite Radio Inc. in the number of subscribers — more than 600,000 for Sirius to 2.5 million for XM — but both are looking to the automotive industry as an avenue to grow listenership and revenue. Sirius has forecast 1 million subscribers by year’s end.

General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Honda Motor Co. are among the automakers that have invested tens of millions of dollars on the prospects for satellite radio. GM, the world’s largest automaker, has backed XM with a $120 million investment and extended an additional $250 million line of credit.

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Ford to expand Sirius satellite radio offerings

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