The boss of Nissan wants to put self-driving cars on Japan’s roads next year, and says they will be able to navigate busy urban environments on their own by 2020.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive, said formidable technological and legal challenges remain but that the direction of travel was plain.
“There will be a Nissan product in Japan, which will carry autonomous drive,” he told reporters on Thursday at the New York International Auto Show. “Obviously when you have this kind of technology, you want also the Japanese market to enjoy it as soon as possible.”
A five-year tie up with NASA on the technology would see the initial roll out by December 2016, with cars that can drive on highways without anyone at the wheel.
In 2018, models should have the ability to avoid hazards and to change lanes, and by 2020, vehicles should be able to autonomously maneuver through crowded city roads.
“It’s going to happen step by step, because we need to make sure that the regulators in the different countries feel comfortable,” Ghosn said, according to Kyodo News.
“To persuade the regulators that you can take your hands off the wheel or your eyes from the road is going to take a lot of demonstration.”
Nissan, Japan’s second biggest automaker, is also looking at working with domestic rivals Toyota and Honda on the technology.
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