New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS): Automaker Ford has announced to put millions of its vehicles on Google Android software starting in 2023. It means that Google Maps and other Android apps will be available in Ford's cars without the need of a smartphone.

David McClelland, VP, Strategy and Partnerships, Ford Motor Company said that the company and Google are establishing a new collaborative group called Team Upshift, comprised of employees from both companies and tasked with driving future innovations.

"This may include projects ranging from modernizing our plants through vision AI, developing new retail experiences when buying a vehicle, creating new ownership offers based on connected vehicle data, and more," McClelland said in a post on Medium on Monday.

"By leveraging Google Cloud, we'll continue our digital transformation and power connected vehicle technologies with a trusted, secure and global cloud solution".

Ford has joined Volvo, General Motors and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance in striking a deal with Google to use its software to power the vehicle infotainment services.

Beginning in 2023, Ford and Lincoln customers globally will benefit from unique digital experiences built on top of Google's Android operating system and with Google apps and services built-in to our vehicles, including world-class map and voice technology.

In addition to the Google Play ecosystem, Ford and third-party developers will create even more apps to enable an improving and more personalized ownership experience.

Ford will also be able to divert significant software engineering talent from operating system development to the creation of unique Ford and Lincoln customer innovations.

"Teaming up with Google allows us to accelerate our ability to challenge our current ownership model and deploy new business models to capture recurring revenue and profit from software, data and connected ecosystems," McClelland said.