Ford reverses course on AM radio, will include it in new cars
Ford is one of many automakers to ditch AM radio in its new cars. It started with the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, but the feature subtraction was due to spread to its internal combustion models, too. That’s no longer the case, as CEO Jim Farley just vowed to keep AM radio in both Ford and Lincoln cars for the foreseeable future.
Farley posted to social media that Ford would include an AM radio on all of its 2024 model year vehicles and provide a software update to add it back to vehicles it’s shipped that already have the AM radio deleted. You can read the message from Farley below.
After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we’ve decided to include it on all 2024 @Ford & @LincolnMotorCo vehicles. For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software…
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98)
May 23, 2023
This comes just days after a bipartisan bill was introduced by U.S. lawmakers that would bar automakers from eliminating AM radio in their new cars. It’s become a trend, as lawmakers say that at least eight automakers have removed AM from their vehicles. As of this story’s publishing, Ford is the only one to declare its course reversal.
Lawmakers want AM radio back into cars because without it, they say it undermines the federal government’s system for providing public safety information to the country. Being able to access public safety alerts or to be informed during a crisis while on the road is a key argument for this legislation, while opponents say that it’s not necessary due to the various other forms of information dissemination available to the government today.
The 2024 Mustang was set to be the first internal combustion Ford model to drop AM radio, but that will no longer be the case. Those with Lightnings and Mustang Mach-Es can expect to be offered a software update to bring the feature back to those vehicles, too. As for timing, Farley didn’t elaborate on exactly when these updates might occur.
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