The shortage of microchips is forcing car makers to choose which features to cut. General Motors recently said it is eliminating a radio feature in its full-sized trucks.
GM will remove the HD Radio option from the 2021 Chevy Silverado and 2021 GMC Sierra. The change is expected to be permanent, reported said Kelly Blue Book. Starting July 12, the 2021 1500 models and 2022 Silverado/Sierra 2500/3500 models will not offer HD Radio, it said.
Radio listening in general has seen a decline since the pandemic, said a study from Strategy Analytics. “After years of dominance traditional radio reached a turning point in 2020, losing a great deal of ground to streaming media,” it said.
Other car makers have also deleted infotainment and convenience features due to chip shortages. Nissan cut navigation from thousands of vehicles and Ram stopped offering a streaming mirror on its 1500 pickup trucks. Ford also said it will build some trucks and SUVs without certain infotainment features and then hold them for some weeks on the lot until it can get the proper chips.
GM in March announced it was building some of its 2021 trucks without a fuel management module due to chip shortages.
The GM Silverado was the second best-selling US vehicle last year and the GMC Sierra came in at 9th place, Kelly Blue Book said.
Photo: Broadway Automotive
