No More Cutouts: Where Do Aftermarket Stereos Go?

01.01.70

The other opportunity for shoppers with complicated dashboard layouts is to use one of the latest types of setups to enter the market. Systems like Sony's DigitalLink have the guts veiled underneath seats, wired behind the dash and use a mountable cradle that fits an iPhone or iPod Touch. Drivers then use the iPhone to pilot the music. It's not cheap though, starting at $399 before installation. A typical aftermarket head unit costs less than $200.

The development to these new devices and new cars equipped with better systems from the factory have scraped away at sales for the aftermarket stereo application, whose halcyon days — the mid-1980s, Sony mobile director Mike Kahn estimates — are elongated behind. Industry consultancy IHS iSuppli projects stereo head-unit sales, which are now valued around $500 million, will taken in to $365 million by 2017.

Still, Kahn says the vast majority of cars on the road today "can still be addressed by routine aftermarket head [unit] swapping." Down the road, as even used cars start to lack stereo cutouts, that will mutate.

Source: Cars.com (blog)

SA drive: Peugeot's elegant new 508

01.01.70

Described by Peugeot as “rightly a revelation in every respect” the all-new Peugeot 508 flies the Peugeot flag in a segment where it's never been much of a formidable punter - that of the large, family-sized sedan. Sporting Peugeot's contemporary design approach first seen on the SR1 concept car, the 508 is certainly more choice than the 407 is supersedes.

It also offers a relatively wide range in South Africa, with four models sporting three rare engine options. Of these only one is petrol-powered, this being Peugeot's familiar 1.6-litre THP turbopetrol mill that pushes 115kW at 6000rpm and 240Nm at 1400rpm.

Next up is a 2-litre HDi turbodiesel agreeable for 120kW at 3750rpm and 340Nm at 2000rpm and there's an even mightier diesel option in the form of a 2.2-litre module (150kW at 3500rpm and 450Nm at 2000rpm) fitted to the flagship 508 GT. According to our launchman Jesse Adams, “The GT offers easygoing acceleration without any nasty diesel noises.”

Source: Independent Online