China is racing to catch up with Europe, Japan and the USA in the development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). An FAW Hongqi HQ3 model fitted with video and radar based active safety systems has just completed a 300-km driverless journey between Changsha and Wuhan.

The journey took approximately 3.5 hours. The Hongqi automated driving systems were developed by the National University of Defense Technology. The university has plans to continue research and development cooperation with the First Auto Works (FAW). “Up to this point, China has lagged behind other regions in terms of ADAS,” says Stephen Longden, author of SBD’s recent report Kickstarting the mass market for ADAS ~ a review of the key market drivers. “This HQ3 project, and other ADAS systems developed by domestic manufacturers such as BYD, Chang’An and Geely, indicates a step change for the Chinese automotive industry with safety coming to the fore.”

The HQ3 project follows a global trend for long distance automated journeys. In the US, Google and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenges have jointly raised the profile of ADAS, while in Europe four automated vehicles from Parma University drove from Italy to Shanghai in 2010.

SBD is currently researching an ADAS feature database covering Europe, USA and China. The database, due for release later this summer, will provide information on system capability, availability and price. To register your interest in this report contact Alessio at ABallatore@sbd.co.uk.