Dolby Atmos Rolls Out to Automobiles

Las Vegas, NV (January 8, 2025)—During the DVD-A rollout in the early aughts, the ability for consumers to experience 5.1-surround in cars was seen as key to the format’s adoption. While Dolby Atmos has initially taken a different path to consumers’ ears, the developer reports at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that automotive support is strong and growing.

Throughout CES, which runs Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas, Dolby is showcasing its momentum in automotive through its latest collaborations with leading manufacturers and suppliers, as well as the growing catalog of music, audiobooks, podcasts, and A/V content fueling the catalog of entertainment consumers can enjoy in their vehicles.

Growth in automotive continues to accelerate after making its first CES debut in 2023, according to Dolby. In the last year alone, the company has more than doubled the number of auto manufacturers supporting Dolby Atmos from 10 to 20-plus companies, including Cadillac, Li Auto, Mercedes-Benz, Polestar, Rivian and Volvo Cars. This also includes new collaborations announced just this week at CES, including Sony Honda Mobility, which shared that it would bring support for Dolby Atmos to its highly anticipated EV, AFEELA.

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This year at CES, Dolby is demonstrating this growing momentum, it says, through a showcase of the latest vehicles to hit the road with Dolby Atmos. Guests at Dolby House, the hub of Dolby CES activities, have the opportunity to be among the first to experience Dolby Atmos in the all-new 2025 Cadillac OPTIQ’s 19-speaker AKG audio system. Offered as a standard feature for customers, OPTIQ will be the first in the brand’s lineup to offer Dolby Atmos.

Dolby is also working closely with automotive SoC and DSP suppliers like Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), MediaTek, NXP Semiconductors, and others to help fuel the deployment of Dolby Atmos into even more cars. This also now includes Texas Instruments, which announced at CES that it would support Dolby Atmos in its new family of chips for auto makers.

In addition, Dolby is working with its partners to showcase how Dolby Atmos can reach even more vehicles, including aftermarket car audio products. At CES, Pioneer exhibited the first public demonstration showcasing how Dolby Atmos could be used in an aftermarket solution using a 4-channel speaker system.

Twenty-five years ago, 5.1 demo stations at electronics outlets or music retailers were virtually the only places where consumers could experience surround sound, hence the belief that in-car systems and the daily commute would help evangelize the format. But a quarter-century later the tail is wagging the dog, with the major record labels and streaming platforms serving immersive sound to consumers long before the auto industry. According to a Dolby statement, 93% of artists highlighted on Billboard’s 2024 Top 100 Artists have now released music in Dolby Atmos.