Just weeks after making its big public debut on NYSE, Pandora announced Tuesday that it will be expanding its network of relationships in the automotive industry by teaming up with Scion, as well as further expanding its relationship with Ford.
Scion will be offering Pandora integration in his new 2012 xB model, which will be available in mid-July, as well as its 2012 tC RS 7.0, which will be available in August. Where its partnership with Ford is concerned, Pandora will be integrated with ten Ford vehicles and two Lincoln vehicles. In addition to Ford and Scion (which is a Toyota-owned line), Pandora has partnerships with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and MINI.
The announcement was made at the Pandora Analyst Day in San Francisco, where EVP of business development Jessica Steel explained: “Nearly 50% of radio consumption happens in the car, so it’s a natural venue for Pandora. We want to make the experience as easy in the car as it is at home, at the office, and on a mobile phone.”
Other manufacturers that have announced plans to integrate Pandora include Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Hyundai and Toyota.
In addition to its new automotive partnerships, Pandora also announced Tuesday that it now has more than 100 million registered users, effectively doubling its subscriber base from 53 million in 2010. At the time of its IPO just last month, Pandora had 94 million users. Additionally, the company says it now has over 36 million monthly active users, and that its total market share for all radio listening in the U.S. now stands at 3.6%, up from 2.3% just six months ago.
Of course, Pandora isn’t limited to just cars and mobile phones (though mobile phones did give Pandora the launch-pad it needed to go from a listening service to a streaming rockstar). The service is also available in aftermarket automobile radios made by Alpine Electronics, JVC, Kenwood and Pioneer, and soon to include Sony. And now you can stream Pandora directly from your refrigerator with the new Samsung LCD Refrigerator with Apps (which includes such apps as Google Calendar, Epicurious, AP News, Picasa Web Albums, and, of course, Pandora).
Image source: caranddriver.com
