Google Enters Car Industry with Unique Partnership

Google partnered with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to build an operating system for vehicle media displays. The new systems, which could be available as soon as 2021, will offer Play Store apps, Google Maps navigation and Google Assistant for voice commands.

Kal Mos, of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, estimates that it will sell more than 14 million Android-ready vehicles in 2022.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has been trying to break into the car space for over a decade. The company had trouble finding a way into the industry because the tech company is often viewed as a competitor who may mine user data for profit.

However, apps such as Google Maps are already preferred by many drivers over some built-in GPS systems. The systems won’t be entirely run by Google. They will still be compatible with mobile devices that run systems such as Apple’s CarPlay.