New Opel Astra and Co.: Multimedia Pleasure for Everyone

• Modern and connected: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible multimedia systems in all Opel passenger cars
• Internet for cars: Opel a pioneer in the small car segment in 2012 with IntelliLink
• When the radio went on tour: 1938 Admiral the first Opel with a car radio
• In honour of the “wireless”: World Radio Day on February 13

Blues, rock, pop, hip-hop – music styles that could hardly be more different and yet have one thing in common: they inspire people and trigger emotions. And where do most people – by far – listen to music? In the car! Today, state-of-the-art multimedia systems, such as in the Opel Astra, winner of the “Golden Steering Wheel 2022”¹, ensure optimal sound and entertainment. They are already standard in many Opel models and ensure top connectivity, coming with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as numerous personalisation options and state-of-the-art navigation. But when did the radio make its debut in Opel vehicles? And what pioneering developments has the German automobile manufacturer helped advance? In honour of “World Radio Day” on February 13 we take a look back.

Enjoying music en route: Opel introduces the radio in Admiral and Kapitän

World Radio Day has been celebrated since 2012 – in reminiscence of the founding of United Nations Radio on February 13, 1946. However, “wireless” entertainment was born at the beginning of the 20th century; in Germany, the first radio station went into operation in 1923. At the time, Fritz von Opel, a grandson of company founder Adam Opel, was also a radio pioneer involved in setting up the “Südwestdeutscher Rundfunkdienst”.

Almost at the same time, the first car radio was introduced in the USA. Opel offered a car radio for the first time in 1938, as an accessory for the Admiral, initially mounted under the dashboard near the floor. Just one year later, for the introduction of the Kapitän, Opel offered an optional Blaupunkt radio integrated in the dashboard. The sound no longer came from the footwell, but from the middle of the car, so that the passengers could enjoy hits such as “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland.

Innovations for everyone: VHF, window antenna and radios made by Opel

After the end of the Second World War and during the subsequent years of the “German economic miracle”, the further development of car radios and reception picked up speed. VHF was introduced in Europe in 1949. Radios in Opel models featured this pioneering reception as early as the first half of the 1950s. Opel’s credo has always been to make innovations accessible to everyone. So, at the end of the 1960s, Opel vehicles offered stereo reception. In the mid-1970s, the carmaker even launched its own range of Opel-branded radios in standard, comfort and luxury versions – the latter with a cassette deck.

Beginning in 1971, Opel offered a new window antenna as an option, initially in the top models Admiral and Diplomat. According to the company at the time, the reception was “equal to, in many cases even superior to, that of conventional rod antennas”. The windscreen acted as an antenna mount, the antenna itself running in a barely perceptible ring shape around the perimeter. This meant that owners no longer needed to worry about damage to the more exposed rod antenna.

In 1977 all Opel radios then acquired traffic information – a technological innovation that made driving a lot more relaxed and time-saving, since the driver’s attention was drawn directly to the announcements on the radio (even if listening to cassettes).

Radio reception improved still further in the following decade. In 1981 Opel launched its first car radio with automatic volume control; and in 1988, RDS (Radio Data System) was introduced, enabling car radios to display additional information on the current programme or traffic reports.

CARIN: The leap from radio to navigation system with route guidance

Whereas drivers had previously been dependent on printed road maps and traffic reports on the radio to plan their journeys, in 1995 Opel was the first car manufacturer to present a mid-range model with a fully integrated navigation system in the Vectra. The “Car Information and Navigation System (CARIN)”, developed by Philips, provided passengers with visual and acoustic route information. The map material was stored on CD, while the position of the vehicle was determined by an interaction of technologies such as GPS, satellite signal reception and ABS wheel sensors. With the second generation “Carin 440” in the Opel Astra, navigation made its way into the compact class in 1998.

At the same time, the developers worked on continuously improving the sound quality. Thanks to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), noise and similar interferences have become a thing of the past. Digital radio reception enables crystal-clear listening to a larger number of programmes and is now standard in all Opel passenger cars as well as in the majority of commercial vehicles.

From IntelliLink to Multimedia: The Internet arrives in Opel cars

In 2012, the age of the Internet began in Opel vehicles. The brand introduced the new IntelliLink infotainment system in its Opel ADAM and thus became a pioneer in the small car segment. IntelliLink integrated Apple iOS and Android smartphone functions. AUTO BILD and COMPUTER BILD gave the “Connected Car Award” to the pioneering Opel system. In 2014, Apple and Google presented Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for the first time; and in the following year, Opel presented the second generation of IntelliLink – now compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Today, Opel models feature state-of-the-art multimedia systems equipped with digital DAB+ reception. Hands-free phone calls, operation via touchscreen or voice command as well as wireless smartphone integration are just some of the countless possibilities that the current models from Opel Mokka to Opel Grandland and Opel Astra make available. Such technologies can be operated intuitively with the latest generation digital user interface, the Opel Pure Panel cockpit. The foundation for all this was once laid by the radio, which is why Opel is celebrating “World Radio Day” on February 13.

^[1] AUTO BILD edition 45/2022 and BILD am SONNTAG edition 46/2022, category for “Best car up to €50,000”