Ford is the first car manufacturer in the UK to offer in-car digital radio. The Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB 52 will be available as a dealer-fitted accessory from January 1, 2003.

Every Ford main dealer will stock the unit by the end of the year, and will fit it to any make of car. The price has not yet been announced. The Blaupunkt Woodstock is the world's first Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) receiver housed in a standard car radio enclosure.

Features include an integral MP3 player for both CD and multimedia cards (MMC). MMC is the smallest storage medium in the world - a single CD-Rom can play back up to 12 hours of music, or about 200 tracks. Other features include track and artist identification, 20 DAB station presets and 30 presets for FM, long wave and medium wave stations.

When driving outside a DAB area the unit automatically switches to FM, then back again when DAB reception is available.