Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) to Strengthen Foothold in Used Car Market

It seems Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), America’s largest satellite car radio provider, may be looking more closely into expanding its presence in the used car market. SIRI has already achieved significant penetration in the new car portion of the market through a robust set of contracts with major automakers ranging from domestic Ford, GM’s Chevrolet and Buick, to Asian brands such as Honda, Nissan and Mazda. However, it seems the used car segment may hold better opportunities for growing the company’s subscriber base.

A recent article published by a Forbes contributor outlined a number of percentages and figures, summarizing that new car sales might not be a sufficient growth engine for the satellite radio company. With 70% of the total number of new cars sold sporting Sirius trial subscriptions, SIRI‘s cut of actual new subscribers who continue using the service beyond the end of the trial tops out at about 45%. Then there’s what Sirius calls ‘self-pay monthly churn’, or the number of customers who cancel their subscription each month – a figure between 1.8% and 2%.

The bottom line that the Forbes piece draws is that with a projected 16.4 million new car sales in 2014, up from 15.6 million in 2013, the decline in SIRI subscribers due to self-pay churn will offset growth from new sales by no small amount.

The company has been making strides towards engaging as many used car buyers as possible, with limited free subscriptions and introductory discounts to monthly prices. The company’s pre-owned program that engages dealers directly has grown considerably, reaching 12 thousand dealers by March 2014. Additionally, in a PR dated June 12 SIRI announced its Pre-Owned and Service Lane programs will be available to dealerships using a Reynolds ERA management system. This means dealers will be able to demo SiriusXM during customer test drives, as well as offer pre-owned vehicle purchasers a 3-month free subscription.

SIRI stock is currently flat in early Friday trading.