Ford, Google Collaborate On Self-Driving Car Project

It appears Google has found a mega partner in the automotive space to help their self-driving car project move forward. Google is reportedly partnering with one of the big three automakers from Detroit.

According to numerous reports, including Bloomberg and Yahoo, Ford and Google are teaming up for a self-driving car project. With Ford’s litany of automotive manufacturing background and Google’s technological software savvy and pile of cash, the venture has great potential. The collaboration was reported by three anonymous sources to Yahoo. Ford and Google will reportedly announce their partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Yahoo also reported the partnership between Google and Ford would be “legally” separate from Ford in order to deal with liability concerns. The deal with Ford also might not be the only deal Google makes. The collaboration between Google and Ford is reportedly non-exclusive, opening the door for other automakers to partner with Google.

While other automakers may forge partnerships with Google long-term, for the time being it appears to be all about Ford and Google. Ford has strong ties to Google as John Krafcik, the head of the Google self-driving car project, worked at Ford for 14 years and former Ford CEO Alan Mulally is on Google’s board.

What impact could this have on the automotive industry and development of self-driving cars? Do you think other automakers will partner with potential automotive companies such as Apple in a similar venture sometime down the road?