This should give its buyers access to new versions long before they are available via car industry rivals.

"We're going to be able to be fast in bringing new capabilities, new features and new experiences to our customers," Alwin Bakkenes, Volvo's Head of Global Software Engineering, told Reuters. "This really gives us an edge in building fantastic customer experiences."

The two companies have been working together for a decade, but the deeper partnership means Google engineers will drive Volvo cars with the latest software to "experience how their product behaves in a real context much earlier and much faster", Bakkenes said.

He said on average the auto industry was about two Android releases behind mobile phones, which "means things you can do on your mobile phone, in many cases you cannot do in the car".

--Reuters--