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Ford switches to B&O Play for premium audio systems

Ford switches to B&O Play for premium audio systems

The brand is one of many under Harman\'s umbrella, separate from the exclusive Bang & Olufsen gear used in high-end vehicles.

Ford has partnered with B&O Play for premium audio systems in its upcoming vehicles.

The move represents an apparent upscale branding push for Ford-badged vehicles, while allowing B&O Play to expand into a new market segment.

B&O Play is a mainstream sub-brand controlled by Bang & Olufsen, aiming to leverage the parent brand's 'audiophile' brand identity. Instead of selling $5,000 tower speakers, B&O Play makes headphones and portable audio gear positioned as a more 'mature' rival to Beats and others.

To be clear, Bang & Olufsen Automotive was acquired by Harman in 2015. Specific details of Ford's B&O Play systems remain unclear, but the equipment could be closer to Harman's more mainstream Infinity brand than the Bang & Olufsen sound systems used by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

"Customers tell us they value consistent, high-quality audio experiences, and our collaboration with Harman is helping provide that," said Ford CTO Raj Nair. "This is just one of the ways we are creating richer, more engaging in-vehicle experiences for customers."

The systems will be tuned specifically for every Ford model, consistent with standard industry practices for all premium audio systems. The company has not announced a time-frame for availability.