Renault Nissan launching at least 10 autonomous cars in the next four years

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Renault Nissan has revealed bold plans to introduce autonomous driving technology in their cars, with at least 10 self driving cars by 2020.

Every car maker is heading down the autonomous driving route, but Renault Nissan  are really taking the bull by the horns by revealing they will have at least 10 autonomous cars on the market in the next four years.

But it seems this isn’t just a fanciful plan from one of the world’s biggest car makers, but a firm commitment with a clear timeline to get drivers to hand over control of their car to the on-board computer when it suits.

The first stage of the plan will see cars arriving this year with single lane control, allowing autonomous driving in a single lane – even on motorways.

Next up will be multiple lane control in 2018, which will allow the car to autonomously change lanes and negotiate hazards on its own, and by 2020 the cars will come with intersection autonomy, allowing them to negotiate even complicated junctions without any input from the driver.

There’s no word from Renault Nissan on which cars will get the autonomous technology (will they be new cars or existing models?), although they do say they will be on sale in the UK, Europe, the US and China.

Perhaps a good pointer is the Nissan IDS Concept (above) we saw at Tokyo last year, a car thought to preview the next Nissan LEAF and showcasing Nissan’s autonomous future.

It’s a bold play from Nissan Renault, and fraught with difficulties over liability for accidents: who is responsible for a collision if the car is being driven autonomously? Will Renault Nissan take the same route as Volvo – assuming the liability – or will it be down to insurance companies to work it out?