Nissan closes in on autonomous driving goals with intl partnerships

Nissan Motor Co Ltd plans to introduce its cutting-edge Seamless Autonomous Mobility technology in the coming years, as part of its focus on creating zero-emission, zero-fatality.

The Japanese automaker's chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that its breakthrough system, developed from NASA technology, will integrate in-vehicle artificial intelligence with human support, to help the car with decision making in unpredictable situations. He made the remarks on Jan 5 at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 in Las Vegas.

The Seamless Autonomous Mobility technology will enable millions of driverless cars to co-exist with human drivers sooner than was originally thought. Nissan expects its autonomous technologies to lead in terms of performance, comfort and safety, removing the stress from daily commuting and minimizing risks in unsafe conditions.

"We work to bring the right technologies for the full spectrum of our vehicles and the most amount of people," Ghosn said in his speech. "This takes more than innovation. It takes ingenuity."

He continued: "Nissan is about to deliver the benefits of electric vehicles and autonomous drive innovations to as many customers as possible and, ultimately, to lead the way toward a new era of mobility."

The carmaker has launched its long-term strategy for the research and development of cutting-edge autonomous drive technologies, which it plans to make available across a range of mass production models by 2020.

Nissan plans to launch lineups with autonomous driving technology in the Chinese market, by installing the technologies in mainstream, mass-market cars at affordable prices, reflecting its expectation of the huge potential and demand for autonomous vehicles in the world's biggest auto market.

Ghosn said in an interview after the news conference: "Autonomous cars and connected cars are safer. The connectivity of the cars is going to allow much better management of traffic. There are interests for social benefit. Both the Chinese government and consumers will like that."

"The Chinese consumer likes technology, they like things which are avant-garde, and they are going to be jumping on every opportunity for autonomous cars. Because it's easier to drive when you have autonomous driving, it's less stressful. And that's why we are testing a lot in China."

Since January 2016, Nissan has joined hands with China Automotive Technology and Research Center to develop advanced driver assistant systems and intelligent transportation, in order to lower the accident rate in China.

The Nissan Joint Research Center for Intelligent Mobility was established at Tsinghua University in May 2016 to collaborate on R&D related to electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies, including battery safety and traffic systems.

For future Chinese mobility solutions, Nissan has committed to zero-emissions and zero-fatality, as the company believes these are key to realizing intelligent mobility. The solutions include advanced sensing technologies, dynamic driving context interpretation and vehicle maneuver planning and control.

Many of the technological advances have already been made available through domestic products. Nissan's vehicles reliably recognize danger or taking appropriate action to enhance safety and the company is advancing its "Safety Shield" with technologies such as lane departure warning and forward emergency braking features.