Chinese experts said Sunday they had succeeded in developing the country's first automatic sedan, which marks a gigantic leap in China's automobile manufacturing technology.
The sedan was jointly developed by the Changchun-based First Automobile Works (FAW) and the National Defense Science and Technology University.
Under normal traffic conditions, the sedan has a maximum stable speed of 130 kilometers per hour and a peak speed of 170 kilometers per hour, said Cheng Chuanhe, senior designer with FAW and a member of the research project.
The vehicle's technical performances had reached the world's leading standards, he said.
According to experts, automatic driving systems developed in the United States have a maximum stable speed of 100 kilometers per hour and German-designed systems 120 kilometers per hour.
Some experts predicted that most luxury cars would be equipped with an automatic driving system after 2010, which would greatly improve the safety standards of highway traffic.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2003)
