Self-driving vehicles expected on roads in next few years

Consumer enthusiasm

Customers have shown similar enthusiasm for the technology.

News portal ifeng.com conducted a three-month online survey on autonomous driving in early 2015 and 82.5 percent of 1,107 respondents said they are either interested or would consider buying such cars.

BMW's survey results are even more optimistic. About 90 percent of its recent survey of 1,000 customers in China said they would like self-driving cars, according to Jiemian.com.

Despite such interest, the survey by ifeng.com shows that nearly 57 percent of respondents said they prefer autonomous driving to be an option so they can still take an active role, because driving itself is a pleasure.

"So we start by quasi-autonomous driving technology," said Chen Yu, a public relations manager at Volvo. "Such things as cruise control and automatic braking have been in the market for years, and automatic parking is coming soon."

Despite the technology's rapid progress, it will be some time before fully autonomous driving is commercialized, according to industry insiders.

Technologically speaking, almost all major automakers will be able to come up with their autonomous cars, but legislation might be a problem, said Mance at BMW.

One of the most frequently asked questions is if a person is killed in a traffic accident caused by a self-driving car, who will be held accountable, the driver or the automaker?

The Convention on Road Traffic passed in 1968 in Geneva, Switzerland, also stipulates that, "Every driver of a vehicle shall in all circumstances have his vehicle under control so as to be able to exercise due and proper care and to be at all times in a position to perform all maneuvers required of him."

The convention has been ratified by at least 70 countries worldwide.

Despite such legal setbacks, automakers believe that autonomous driving will prevail sooner or later.

It is a definite trend of transport in the future, especially as urbanization gains momentum worldwide, a public relations manager at Mercedes-Benz told China Daily.

Infiniti's president Roland Krueger shared the same idea. "Autonomous driving benefits road safety and emissions, and it enhances driving enjoyment and the overall quality of life."

"For example, we will be liberating the driver and enabling him or her to stay engaged with family and friends or even do business while stuck in traffic."