China’s leading autonomous driving technology provider AutoX has announced a partnership with Honda China to deploy Honda cars fitted with AutoX’s autonomous vehicle technology for testing on public roads in China. In a press release, the company disclosed that Honda China will provide two of its models, the Honda Accord and Inspire vehicles, to deploy AV technology and testing in some of China’s most populous cities.Auto X Honda

AutoX runs the Robotaxi service (with a fleet of about 100 vehicles) across some of China’s leading cities after successfully testing the Level 4 autonomous vehicles in China last year. AutoX’s AI self-driving platform is highly developed and can handle the densest and most dynamic traffic systems, having pioneered the Level 4 AV Robotaxis. AutoX’s mission is to provide autonomous transportation solutions to a broader segment of the population using its self-driving technology, which it terms democratizing autonomy.

Honda will bring its automotive expertise to the partnership as it hopes to deepen its understanding of the Chinese traffic ecosystem, establish acceptance and safety of the self-driving technology, and explore new autonomous technology solutions to tackle road traffic accidents. Honda’s SENSING technology was deployed in China in 2015 and has proved effective in reducing road crashes from SENSING-enabled vehicles. Last month, Honda began industrial production of Level 3 AVs in Japan and would seek to draw from Level 4 tech available from AutoX for subsequent AV development.

The success of the testing process for the cars will determine the direction of the partnership between Honda and AutoX. A successful testing regime across public roads in China’s most densely populated cities could see mass production of such vehicles for the Chinese market. But this could take a few years to come to fruition.

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