Google’s self-driving car initiative has been going well over the past year, but it seems that it has huge news up its sleeve. According to report, Google and Ford partnership will be building autonomous cars. It is reported that Ford will announce the partnership at CES in Las Vegas. Since neither company has confirmed the partnership, the exact details of the partnership are still unknown.
Google reportedly teaming up with Ford
By partnering with Google, Ford gets a huge jump in the self-driving vehicle market. While Ford has been experimenting with its own self-driving technology for years, it just revealed this month that it was planning to begin testing on streets of California. However, Google has 53 test vehicles on the road in Texas and California, with more than one million miles logged in autonomous driving.
Likewise, by partnering with Ford, Google will gain a lot. Earlier, Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin stated that they have no desire to produce cars in mass and would rather partner with some auto manufacturer for company’s self-driving cars. Pairing with Ford gives it a partner with a lot of experience and sources to manufacture cars, so it can avoid investing in the materials and spending several years for developing cars independently.hile specific details of the partnership remain unclear, it’s understood that it would be a non-exclusive agreement, meaning Google could partner with other auto manufacturers while still in partnership with Ford. Now, the question is who will take the responsibility for any crashes done by driverless cars? Volvo declared that it would take the responsibility for crashes done in autonomous mode, an assurance followed by Google and Mercedes-Benz.
Google Teamup With Ford To Make Self-driving Cars
While specific details of the partnership remain unclear, it’s understood that it would be a non-exclusive agreement, meaning Google could partner with other auto manufacturers while still in partnership with Ford. Now, the question is who will take the responsibility for any crashes done by driverless cars? Volvo declared that it would take the responsibility for crashes done in autonomous mode, an assurance followed by Google and Mercedes-Benz.
Many major auto manufacturers and suppliers of auto parts are building their own self-driving technology as well. Among them, Volvo, Nissan, and Mercedes-Benz are promising to launch advanced vehicles for customers by 2020.
Google is not ready to pass any comments just yet. While Ford’s spokesperson Alan Hall revealed that under Ford Smart Mobility Plan, it works with many companies but he did not comment on speculation due to competitive reasons.
It was also reported that Google’s parent company Alphabet will run the business of self-driving cars under its own unit. The goal of such approach is to eventually launch a taxi or car-sharing service in the city which would compete with Uber and other similar service providers. While Google and Ford partnership also suggests that Ford would sell autonomous cars commercially under its own brand and would simply license the technology from Google.
Let’s wait for Consumer Electronics Show that is scheduled on January 6 to 9, Wednesday to Saturday for more information on the same.
