Subaru will be offering Sirius Satellite Radio exclusively in the majority of its vehicles sold in Canada, starting in June. It's a clear sign that the battle for exclusive OEM deals is as hot as ever with our neighbors up North.

The exclusive deal is for the Subaru Legacy, Outback and Impreza (pictured) models. Additional Sirius-exclusive Subaru models will be announced in the coming months.

"Sirius is the leading satellite radio brand in Canada and we are very pleased to expand our satellite radio offering on our volume vehicles," said Katsuhiro Yokoyama, president, chairman and chief executive officer of Subaru Canada, "We are excited about providing even more Subaru drivers with an enhanced in-vehicle entertainment experience from Sirius Satellite Radio."

Bonus: Click the jump to watch one of the coolest Subaru commercials made. It has nothing to do with Sirius, but it's mighty fun to watch.

Microsoft Corp. and Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group have partnered together to build a music and information system to rival Ford Motor Co.'s SYNC system. The system is set to debut in cars sold in North America in 2010.

Hyundai is the first major Asian automaker to commit to using the Microsoft Auto platform with the goal of bringing these systems worldwide.

The infotainment systems will be a voice-controlled interface linking mobile devices to car stereo systems, with the ability for new functionality through software updates via the USB port - much like Ford SYNC. Later versions are expected to include multimedia and navigation-related features, said Microsoft/Hyundai.

Hyundai-Kia will first introduce vehicles in North America in 2010 and expand to the Asian and European regions shortly afterwards.

As I predicted, this is only the beginning. The product deal marks a win for Microsoft and you can bet that we will see more of these partnerships with other automakers in the future. Microsoft Auto systems - which are essentially mini-PCs - are currently available in Fiat in Europe and South America, and in Ford in North America.

With automakers like BMW and Chrysler working to bring Internet access to vehicles, the market for car-based information and data systems is expected grow rapidly in coming years, and Microsoft plans to be part of this movement.

ICO Global Communications has entered into a partnership with Delphi to develop DVB-SH devices for its "ICO mim" service.

Under the agreement, ICO gets exclusive rights to all DVB-SH devices developed by Delphi for use in the mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum band in North America over the next 3-years.

Delphi will design ICO's first aftermarket devices and units in are expected in December 2008. The alpha trials for the ICO mim service will start later this year in Raleigh-Durham, NC and Las Vegas, NV. 

The partnership with Delphi will also serve as a shoe-in for OEMs as the company will co-market ICO's interactive mobile video, navigation and emergency communications services to automakers.

"ICO is poised to deliver a unique interactive suite of mobile services for American consumers, and Delphi's extensive experience in mobile electronics makes them an ideal partner as we implement ICO's go-to-market strategy," said Craig Jorgens, president of ICO.

(Pictured is an alpha device used to demo ICO mim at CES 2008, it is not a Delphi device.)

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Chrysler LLC have extended their relationship through September 2017.

Sirius is currently available in most Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models. This agreement targets a factory-installed penetration rate of more than 70% of Chrysler vehicles.

"Sirius is proud to extend our exclusive relationship with Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge," said Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin. "Chrysler will be selling millions of vehicles with Sirius and we look forward to a very significant number of Chrysler customers becoming part of our already very satisfied Sirius family of more than 8.3 million subscribers."

Following the shutting down of its kiosk program, XM Satellite Radio has discontinued its contract managing store level retail field support staff with Wal-Mart, Orbitcast has learned.

The national team, which was employed by National In-Store (NIS), was comprised of over 30 field personnel and 4 regional managers. Their duties were primarily to manage the training and merchandising compliance of the Wal-Mart associates at the store level.

It's important to note that this does not affect XM's retail partnership with Wal-Mart which is XM's largest retail partner. This team supported over 2,000 Wal-Mart stores nationwide, according to a person familiar with the matter.

XM made the announcement internally on Friday, but the program will continue "business as usual" until the end of February. The company cited budgetary constraints and lack of company revenue to justify keeping the program going forward, according to the source.

As a result, XM will manage their relationship with Wal-Mart directly (much like what Sirius already does). This is yet another sign that the company is reducing retail-related expenditures, especially following weak holiday shopping sales.

Bentley, which already had an exclusive agreement with Sirius here in the States, has signed with Sirius Canada to make the service available in select vehicles for our neighbors up north.

Sirius Canada will be available as a standard feature in all Bentley Continental GT, Continental GT Speed (pictured), Continental GTC and Continental Flying Spur vehicles starting with the 2008 model year.

The Bentley vehicles with Sirius Canada built-in will also come with a complimentary lifetime subscription. Because, you know, people buying Bentleys are strapped for cash.

[Press Release]

Directed Electronics, Inc.announced this morning that they've extended their contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. - news that has sent the DEIX stock up over 50% today.

Directed said the new contract contains "certain changes" to the handling of customer returns that will enhance cost recovery, reduce uncertainty and volatility with respect to returns and meaningfully improve the predictability of their earnings.

These "certain changes" will go into effect on January 1, 2008.

[Press Release]

Ford said today that they'll be targeting an approximate 70% factory penetration rate of Sirius radios starting with the 2009 model year vehicles.

In addition, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Ford Motor Company said that they are extending their relationship. Sirius and Ford had previously extended their partnership through 2011, but the exact terms on this deal extension were not announced. We do know that all Ford brands, Lincoln, Mercury, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, and Mazda, are covered by the agreement. So that's good.

Ford had also previously been reluctant to give penetration numbers. With Chrysler at 70%, Mercedes at 90%, and VW/Audio at 80%; everyone has been tapping their collective foot waiting for a commitment from Ford.

At the 3Q07 earnings call, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin had hinted towards this by saying "there will be an announcement from Ford sometime in the future," and obviously this is it.

And let's not forget Lincoln's installations of Sirius Travel Link as well. A preemptive sign that the Sirius-Ford relationship is nice and healthy.

Over a million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles have been shipped with Sirius factory-installed. Ford recently launched Sirius on its new Focus, bringing the number of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicle lines offering factory-installed Sirius to 23.

Sirius equipped vehicles are packaged with a six-month prepaid subscription, and the vehicles covered under this new agreement will be available next year at dealers.

Sirius Canada and Lexus are expanding their relationship to make Sirius Satellite Radio available in more Lexus cars sold in Canada.

The deal expands upon Sirius Canada's partnership with Toyota Canada that make Sirius available as an option at Toyota dealerships (originally on the FJ Cruiser, Camry, and Tundra).

Now Sirius Canada will be available - again, as a dealer-installed option - on all 2008 model year Lexus IS (pictured above), ES, GS, RX, and GX models.

Sirius will be available for Lexus vehicles in Canada starting in December 2007.

[via Orbitcast Forums]

General Motors has expanded its penetration of XM Satellite Radio as a standard factory-installed feature, across its 2008 model year vehicles.

Now all Buicks, Hummers and Saabs will have XM as a standard feature for the 2008 model year.

In addition, XM is also now widely standard on the all-new 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, Silverado, Tahoe, Cobalt, Corvette and Impala; Saturn Vue, Outlook, Aura and Sky; GMC Acadia, Yukon, and Sierra; and Pontiac G5 and Solstice models among others.

To date, GM has produced over 6 million vehicles with XM, and XM is available today on more than 50 model year 2008 GM vehicles.

Every new General Motors vehicle with factory-installed XM comes with a free 3-month trial subscription.