Ford beats GM to deal for Google's self-drive tech
Blue Oval set to announce alliance with Google at CES, both companies set to save billionsGoogle and Ford will join forces to build self-driving vehicles, according to new reports.
The huge step forward for both car-maker and technology company is set to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, according to US car blog, Yahoo Autos.
As part of the deal Ford will leapfrog almost all its competitors by benefitting from Google’s self-driving software and millions of miles of testing in real-world conditions in the tech companies 53 test vehicles.
Google, meanwhile, will benefit from Ford’s manufacturing and car-making expertise.
The precise details are not known of how the partnership will work, whether the new venture will exist as a third entity, possibly as a new brand.
The alliance between Ford and Google is understood to be non-exclusive and will enable the Californian-based software giant to continue its talks for similar deals with Nissan, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz.
Despite the non-exclusivity clause, the announcement of the Ford-Google deal at CES will be seen as a crushing blow for General Motors.
In late October GM’s product development chief, Mark Reuss announced that his company was seeking its own deal to harness Google’s autonomous driving knowhow.
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