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Ford in Talks to Make Self-Driving Cars for Google
Ford Motor Co. has been in lengthy talks about supplying next-generation autonomous vehicles to Google Inc., and a deal could be announced in January at CES in Las Vegas.
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Ford Motor Co. has been in lengthy talks about supplying next-generation autonomous vehicles to Google Inc., and a deal could be announced in January at CES in Las Vegas.
Neither company is commenting about the media reports, and details about the would-be deal are unclear. Yahoo Autos says an agreement would be nonexclusive, allowing Google to buy self-driving vehicles from other companies too.
It isn’t clear if Ford would develop a purpose-built vehicle or simply outfit one or more of its existing models with Google’s system of sensors and actuators to enable the vehicle to drive themselves.
Reports point out that former Ford CEO Alan Mulally joined Google’s board last year. And in September Google hired one-time Ford executive John Krafcik to be CEO of its self-driving car project.
Ford CEO Mark Fields has been hinting about Ford forming partnerships with Silicon Valley companies. Earlier this month he told Automotive News, “I don’t think we can just be so arrogant to think that we’re going to do everything on our own.”
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