Baidu to produce driverless cars in five years

TIANJIN - Search engine giant Baidu plans to mass-produce driverless cars in five years, said company president Zhang Yaqin on Monday.

During the ongoing Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016, or Summer Davos, in Tianjin, Zhang told Xinhua that Baidu will carry out road tests of driverless cars in ten Chinese cities, with the aim to commercialize the technology in three years and realize mass production in five years.

The core technology of Baidu's driverless cars, he said, is the "Baidu car brain," which includes high-precision electronic mapping, positioning, sensing and decision-making and control systems.

Baidu has already completed its first road test of automatic driving in mixed road conditions. The company has plans for more road tests in various weather, road and traffic conditions in ten Chinese cities, according to Zhang.

After it launched its autonomous car project in 2013, Baidu joined the race with Internet giants such as Google and Tesla Motors.

Baidu is now leading the world in terms of the cutting-edge technology of driverless vehicles, Zhang said.