Jbal

Just curious. Thanks.

fdxpilot

In the '16 order guide, neither the description of the IO5 standard or IO6 optional radio mentions HD radio.

mpuzach

Nothing was mentioned about it by the GM guys at the bash.

Jbal

Thanks Folks. Disappointing Really IMO.

vettetwo

Disappointing indeed. Curious as to why it was dropped by GM on so many models.

jedblanks

My guess is so that you'll be more likely to subsrcrobe to XM.

Jbal

Have HD on my '14, & it just Fantastic!

Steve Garrett

We should have asked Tadge and Harlan at the Bash......

9ball1104

HD is the exact opposite of XM, high definition vs. low definition. There maybe be some kick back to GM from XM, but this has nothing to do with HD Radio even if it does give us a few more stations. If folks want the better fidelity of HD Radio, they're much more likely to bring their music on media or choose Pandora.

Elegant1

You wouldn't have gotten a straight answer anyway.

Larry/car

My guess; the radio manufacturer charged more than GM was willing to pay for HD capability hence option dropped. Most people never had it and don't miss it. HD radio has never been popular.

9ball1104

Maybe, but you can by a HD receiver for the car from Amazon for $39, so the cost to GM to add an HD chip to an existing radio in the quantities GM buys radios is probably just a few bucks tops. Don't think the dropped HD just because of the added cost to a $70,000 vehicle. I suspect the reason HD radio has not caught on is in large part because of the decline in FM radio music in general due to competition from the likes of iTunes portable media, iTunes Radio, Pandora, Spotify and of course XM.

11B250

Well look at the navigation. It won't cost them anything to add it to standard cars (literally 0 dollars) but they force you to get it with the PDR. You're forced in that direction.

It probably has something to do with them forcing you to use XM and media stream.

blazeone

Heck my 2015 Ford Fusion has both HD radio and Sirius/XM service.

vettetwo

Here is a listing of the vehicles that are offering HD radio:
http://hdradio.com/get-a-radio/new-car

Chevrolet is down to two.

jedblanks

You know that, I know that but someone who has never had XM does not.

NSC5

Although Ibiquity certainly enjoys the fact that most people believe the HD in HD radio stands for High Definition it originally meant hybrid digital and it is now simply Ibiquity's trademark for their system. Although generally not as badly compressed as XM it still uses a lossy compression protocol and things grow far worse as stations add additional sub-channels which all have to share the maximum 150 kbit/s rate available using the hybrid analog/digital FM setup. Compared to a CD or high quality digital source HD radio is inferior and it has never gained the market traction it needs to be successful. A small niche within an overall shrinking market isn't a prescription for great happiness.

Jbal

All I know my Friend is This! Living in eastern PA, able to obtain a variey of HD channels that sound superb! One, WMGK, 102-9-2, oldies, NO commercials, unteruppted. In terms of sound quality, eons better than standard FM, XM. Love your stats, but but IMO, meaningless to the ear!

meyerweb

And there's the real reason why Chevy dropped it. Not enough people care about HD radio for it to be a selling point, so it's not worth the licensing fees GM had to pay.

The few HD stations I listened to when I had a rental car equipped with it were as full as ads as FM.

ffr1352

I agree as the 2lt 14 vert radio on an HD station made it sound like you had front row seats to the performance. I think one reason HD radio was dropped is that many consumers complained about the interruption of music when the HD signal was not strong enough and the radio transitioned to the standard FM signal when travelling away from the tower.