Dec. 30, 2015—Last week, it was reported that Google was talking with Ford about building its next-generation autonomous car.  If this happens, it would benefit self-driving cars because Ford would create a purpose-built vehicle instead of adding Google’s electronics to an existing car, according to a report by Automotive News.

The car would be developed to package the electronics, lidar, radar and camera sensing and computer systems, which would make it look more like a normal car than the current experimental bubble cars.

"The vehicle will be built to Google's specifications, but contain Ford's FMVSS [Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards] know-how," said Dave Sullivan, AutoPacific analyst, according the report.

The partnership would benefit both companies. Google would save billions by using Ford designed vehicles and  Ford would gain access to Google’s self-driving technology.  

If finalized, the Ford-Google partnership could be announced as early as the week of Jan. 4.