It’s not uncommon to see cars these days integrating smartphone connectivity into their dashboards. While that’s certainly futuristic to an extent, auto manufacturers are now wanting to take it one step further by integrating mobile operating systems into the cars themselves.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google and Audi are going to announce a partnership at CES next week that will see Android showing up in the manufacturer’s cars. To be specific, the entertainment and information systems will run on a modified version of Google’s mobile OS.

Interestingly enough, Google will reportedly use this announcement to springboard into an initiative that will see the company trying to get Android into other vehicles. From there, we could see dashboard control centers becoming more like smartphones, even offering apps. It would certainly save your smartphone’s battery if you could run a GPS app from your car instead of your phone.

Besides getting Android into more cars, Google could have an ulterior motive to all this. It’s no secret that Google is working on self-driving cars, and it’s possible that those cars already have a bit of Android in them. By getting Android into cars now, Google could be easing people into the idea of a car that takes care of everything for them, including the driving.

As the Wall Street Journal suggests, it could also be Google’s response to Apple working with automakers to enable deeper connectivity with iOS devices. Of course, Apple’s method requires users to buy an iPhone to connect with their car. Google is taking it one step further by integrating Android into the cars themselves. You would never see Apple do the same with iOS unless it became an auto manufacturer.

On a final note, Google pushing Android into more places could be all part of its master plan to bring in more ad revenue. A study from last week suggested that Google may be looking to get Android onto more televisions to service ads to users. It could be using Android on cars for the same reason. After all, who wouldn’t want to use Google Voice Search while they’re driving, especially if they release a special KITT voice pack for it.

Image via Audi