Ford Not Nixing AM Radio in 2024 Models after All, CEO Says

Despite a previous death sentence, AM radio will live to see another day on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln models. That’s according to FoMoCo CEO Jim Farley, who today tweeted the company’s decision to not nix AM radio in its new vehicles after all.

The demise of AM radio is something other automakers such as Audi, BMW, Volvo, and Tesla have already started to do, specifically on their electric vehicles. However, this has led to backlash from lawmakers and many others who claim AM radio is vital because it’s accessible, free, and important for public safety. Just last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation to mandate that automakers offer AM radio in new cars, per a Reuters report.

With Ford already removing AM radio from new F-150 Lightnings and Mustang Mach-Es, the next step was to remove it from the rest of the 2024 model lines. However, Farley’s tweet says the company is changing course “after speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as part of the emergency alert system.”

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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

Farley also mentioned that Lightning and Mach-E models without AM radio will be able to have it restored via an over-the-air software update. Whether or not other automakers who have dropped AM radio will do the same remains to be seen. From the sounds of it, that decision could possibly be made by Congress.

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Senior Editor

Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.