Mercedes-Benz and Sirius Satellite Radio have extended their relationship to include Sirius in over 80 percent of vehicles for 2007, and plans to grow the install rate to more than 90 percent over the next 2 years.

Sirius will also now be standard equipment on two additional models this year: the S-Class and CLS. Sirius is standard equipment right now in the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and CL-Class, as well as all AMG and 600 model vehicles.

Sirius' factory install rate for Mercedes-Benz vehicles will grow to 90 percent for 2008, and continue to over 90 percent by 2009. The original installation rate was estimated at 50 percent - set less than two years ago.

All Mercedes-Benz vehicles with Sirius installed include 6-months of free service. 

Volkswagen will now be offering Sirius Satellite Radio as standard-equipment in 2 of their new vehicle models in Canada.

The new 2008 Touareg 2 (pictured) and the special edition Triple White New Beetle Convertible (not pictured) will be featuring Sirius as standard equipment. Both were unveiled at the 2007 Vancouver Auto Show as part of VW's North American premiere.

The factory-installed Sirius receivers are bundled with a 3-month subscription.

With the addition of the new Touareg and New Beetle Convertible Triple White, a total of 7 VW models (including the Rabbit, Jetta, New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible, Passat Sedan, and Passat Wagon) are now available with Sirius Satellite Radio in Canada.

XM Satellite Radio will now be a standard factory-installed feature on every single 2008 Infiniti model, including the G, M, FX and QX.

Infiniti is part of Nissan Motor Company, who announced a factory-installed partnership with XM back in 2005.

XM NavTraffic also will now be a standard, factory-installed feature on the 2008 Infiniti QX full size SUV. Infiniti will also expand the availability of XM NavTraffic in their 2008 model year vehicles.

The new 2008 G37 Coupe (pictured) will make XM NavTraffic available as part of its navigation service, and will obviously also feature standard XM.

I have to say that I'm loving these new standard-feature announcements. It's great to be factory-installed, but standard is the real force behind mass market adoption.

Looks like Sirius is strengthening its relationship with Ford. Starting with the 2008 model year, Sirius Satellite Radio will be factory-installed satellite radio on the Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln Navigator, Lincoln Navigator L and Lincoln Mark LT.

Last week Sirius announced that their satellite radios will be standard equipment in select Land Rover vehicles. Land Rover is owned by Ford Motor Co.

About 600,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles have already been shipped with factory-installed Sirius satellite radios. Those numbers are expected to more than double in 2007 as Sirius will be offered in 23 different models this year.

On top of being standard-equipment, a six-month pre-paid subscription to Sirius is included with each Lincoln vehicle.

(Hey, are you subscribed to Orbitcast? Well why the hell not? Keep up to date with the latest in satellite radio news and info by subscribing to the feed, or you can subscribe by email. Don't worry, you can thank me later.)

Ok, I'm not necessarily in the market for a minivan, but this thing looks incredible. Watch the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country promotional video below:

Delphi, which is working to rise up from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has historically depended on GM for a huge chunk of its sales. But with the introduction of Sirius Backseat TV in 2008 Chrysler vehicles, Delphi is further expanding their business beyond GM and getting cozier with the Chrysler Group.

You may not have known it, but Delphi makes the hardware for Sirius Backseat TV that Chrysler plans to introduce in the Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan soccer-mom-mobiles this fall. Delphi makes the receiver that accepts the satellite signal and the decoder that interprets those signals. The hardware is made in Delphi's plant in Matamoras, Mexico.

The technology will be exclusive to Chrysler for a year, and Chrysler is the first to offer live backseat TV as a factory-installed option. Other auto companies reportedly are interested but haven't committed to offering it just yet.

"We're proud to be working with Chrysler Group to help usher in the next phase of in-car entertainment," said Ken Erickson, Delphi product business unit executive, entertainment & communications. "With this video technology, passengers will be able to bring new entertainment content directly into their vehicle. They won't have to watch and carry around the same DVDs anymore."

[Detroit Free Press]