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Volvo Cars Plans a Self-Driving Auto by 2021

  • Hands-free highway driving to follow tests starting in 2017
  • Carmaker searching for partners in software, cloud services

Volvo, which markets its cars based on a reputation for safety, has pushed driver-assistance systems as a way to reduce crashes.

Source: Getty Images
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Volvo Car Group plans to sell a model able to pilot itself down the highway by 2021, joining BMW AG in a promise of self-driving technology within five years.

Volvo will start testing vehicles with advanced self-driving features next year in Sweden’s Gothenburg, London and China, eventually putting about 100 test cars on the road in each country with ordinary customers as drivers. The project is a stepping-stone toward systems able to take over without human intervention.