XM unveiled a brand spankin' new booth for the 2008 NAIAS in Detroit this week. It features various interactive listening stations and kiosks where fans can try each of XM's partners user interfaces for XM Radio and XM NavTraffic.
Alan Taylor of Car & Driver Radio (heard Sunday mornings on America Right) is occupying the space in the center of the booth (seen above), bringing the big names and announcements from Detroit to listeners across the country.
The Detroit auto show also marked the public unveil of XM's Infotainment Vehicle.
Click the jump to see many more photos of XM's booth at NAIAS...
Here's an example of one of their kiosks. XM has one for each auto partner demonstrating XM Radio and/or XM NavTraffic. This one happens to feature Cadillac:
The outside of the XM Infotainment Vehicle:
Here's a shot from inside the XM Infotainment Vehicle:
The XM studio inside our booth where Alan Taylor was broadcasting Car and Driver Radio:
And finally here's two additional booth pics from different angles:
"We were really excited about this new booth since it is very interactive," said an XM spokesperson. "It really lets you try out the XM experience."
It's nice to see that XM hasn't abandoned tradeshows altogether. Quite the opposite apparently. Very cool.
ALot better than what was at CES.
This would appear to be a testament to the belief, by XM, that retail is no longer a market worth pursuing - at least, not in the current environment. If they can come up with a highly innovative retail product that will create serious interest in the sector again, THEN they can go for it. For now, satellite radio is of little interest to the retail community. It is all about OEM.
About time.
Exactly. I think it's also an issue of costs.
There's only a limited budget to dedicate toward event marketing - and currently retail is an ever shrinking pie, while OEM is the cash cow. XM knew they weren't going to unveil anything spectacular during CES, so why waste the money?
It still would have been nice to see them exhibit at CES with this booth. Maybe next year.
Howard is front and center for Sirius.
Looks like O&A are MIA.
No surprise.