Washington — Sirius and XM Satellite Radio announced new agreements with Toyota, with XM set to expand its current Toyota program and Sirius lined up to be available through Toyota for the first time, the companies each reported.
In addition, XM said it was named the Toyota provider for satellite radio data services. Although the company did not specify which data service, the only one currently offered by XM is NavTraffic, which delivers real-time traffic updates to a vehicle.
XM said its radios will be offered for the first time as a factory-installed option on Toyota and Lexus vehicles where XM was previously available only as an option at the dealer.XM is currently available as a dealer option on 10 Toyota and Lexus models and will be available on two additional models.
Sirius said its radios will be available as a dealer option on Toyota vehicles, but also as a post-production option where they are installed at a “vehicle preparation center” before they reach the dealer. “Essentially it is the same as a factory option because the car comes to the dealer lot with the radio already installed,” said a Sirius spokesman.
Sirius will be offered on nine models, including the Toyota Camry, Solara, Land Cruiser and several Lexus and Scion models, beginning February 2005 at a retail price of $299. Nearly all the new models will use a new Sirius interior glass mount antenna.
XM said it is currently available on more than 110 car models overall, and Sirius said it is available on 80 at present.
