Rivals team up for autonomous cars

In a race to the finish line, the world's biggest carmakers are forging unlikely alliances to become the first to offer safe and reliable autonomous cars.

Once familiar lines between rivals have become blurred after German automaker Volkswagen teamed up with US' Ford Motor Co while Germany's BMW AG and Daimler AG struck a deal.

Automakers are also enlisting the help of technology companies like Cruise, Argo and Aurora (which is backed by Amazon), who license their know-how to them.