A Radio World correspondent travelled to the annual CES in Las Vegas to look at what the next generation of electronics holds for radio. But what caught my eye is an old pet peeve of mine - his comments on how radio is set up in today's models of cars. 

I couldn't agree more with his assessment that in making things more modern, they've also made it a lot more complicated at a time when radio is already losing steam with younger drivers. 

"To me, it has been hugely distressing in the past several years to drive rental cars that make me feel utterly ignorant in finding the radio. On one overseas rental, a KIA Sorento had mutable knobs that toggled from controlling radio volume and tuning to setting HVAC.

So, you guessed it, when trying to tune the radio, I instead made my ride uncomfortably toasty.

Another rental, a Toyota Highlander obliterated the radio once Android Auto began functioning. The only way to get to AM/FM functionality was a benign button on the steering wheel marked “mode.” Who would have guessed?"

CES 2026: Technology, Radio and the Future