Bentley Motors and SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced they have signed an exclusive agreement to include SIRIUS in Bentley vehicles.

SIRIUS will be available in select Bentley models in the U.S. beginning in the mid- 2007 model year and will become a standard feature available in all Continental GT, Continental GTC and Continental Flying Spur vehicles beginning in the 2008 model year.

It should be noted that Bentley is actually owned by Volkswagen - who signed an exclusivity deal with Sirius back in March. So it's really the standard-feature announcement that is bigger news than the Sirius/Bentley partnership. Still, being standard is the key to growth in the satellite radio industry.

Porsche and XM Satellite Radio have inked a long-term agreement to equip Porsche vehicles for the U.S. market with XM starting in 2007.

XM has been available as a factory-installed feature for Cayenne models since 2005 and will be the exclusive satellite radio option in the future. XM will also be available for other Porsche models in the future.

XM will also develop satellite-delivered data services for Porsche vehicles. These services are expected to include the advanced XM NavTraffic real-time traffic data service, available in 44 major markets nationwide.

XM-equipped Porsche vehicles receive a free three-month subscription to the service.

This deal is interesting considering that Sirius signed exclusively with Volkswagen/Audi. Porsche historically has had a very close relationship with Volkswagen and actually owns a 25.1% stake in VW.

XM Satellite Radio and Acura have announced a new program that provides a complimentary XM Satellite Radio subscription for Certified Pre-Owned vehicles. Starting this fall, Certified Pre-Owned Acuras with XM factory-installed will be available with a free 3-month subscription, this includes the RL, TL, TSX and MDX models.

Acura sells about 35,000 certified pre-owned vehicles a year. XM Satellite Radio is standard in about 1/3 of those (this share will continue to grow as XM is offered as standard equipment in all Acuras).

The day has finally come that the first Hyundai equipped with standard XM Satellite Radio is rolled out of the factory. An all-new 2007 Santa Fe, with XM Radio standard, was produced today at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) in Montgomery.

XM Satellite Radio and Hyundai announced a deal back in March 2005 to include XM as standard equipment in all Hyundai models. It has begun. 

The Santa Fe is the first of four Hyundai models to add XM Satellite Radio as a standard feature to all audio systems this year. Others include the 2007 Sonata, Azera and Elantra.

Every new XM-equipped Hyundai also comes with a 3-month trial subscription. In 2005, Hyundai's U.S. sales reached 455,012 units.