Audi given green light to test autonomous vehicles in China

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Audi China was granted licenses for autonomous vehicle road test in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province at the forum for intelligent transportation and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) industry development on September 14. The other automaker got the license is SAIC Motor.

Audi China plans to set up a R&D and testing center in the first quarter of 2019 in this city. Nearly 150 employees are likely to be hired there, working on the spot tests for autonomous vehicle and IoV technologies.

Up until now, all of the three major German premium automakers have been given green light to road test autonomous vehicles in China. BMW obtained two license plates for the ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) road test from Shanghai municipal government on May 14, becoming the first global automaker that is allowed to test ICV on roads. Then, Daimler AG announced on July 6 that it was given go-ahead to road test L4 autonomous vehicles in Beijing, the capital of China.

Audi AG has been actively developing cooperation with Chinese partners in autonomous driving domain. As early as 2017, the German automaker joined hands with Huawei, a China's leading provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices, to test LTE-V ( the long-term evolution-vehicle) program on public roads. On July 10, 2018, Audi announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei to develop in-depth cooperation in ICV area. The agreement constituted part of a broad-based partnership between companies in China and Germany initiated by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.