(Image source from: Google)

Google is in discussions with Ford on building its autonomous cars, according to reports from Automotive News which cited a person with related project knowledge.

If the contract manufacturing deal gets finalized, it would come during the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which is scheduled in the first week of January 2016, said the news report. Even though officials from Google confirmed the talks with the automaker, a Google spokesman declined to comment on speculation.

Earlier in 2015, Google started discussions with the top automakers of the world. A team of non-traditional and traditional suppliers was made to fasten the process of bringing self-driving cars into the market by 2020.

In June 2015, the search engine company began to test self-designed tiny, bubble-shaped self-driving prototype vehicles on public roads around Mountain View. In Austin, the company began to test self-driving prototypes.

Bloomberg reported earlier that, “Google is expected to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire, a stand-alone business under its parent company, Alphabet Inc, next year.”

-Sumana