China delays ramp-up of self-driving autos

After years of planning for cars that would let drivers take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road, China's regulators have become more cautious, writes Keith Bradsher from Ningbo, China

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A Changan Automobile assembly line in May. Changan is one of only two automakers approved to conduct limited testing of self-driving taxis.

(NYT)

Early this year, Chinese automakers enthusiastically announced that they would soon be mass-producing and selling self-driving vehicles.

Most of those plans have now been delayed after a deadly crash that drew broad public attention.

China's regulators finally gave the go-ahead last week to only two of the nine automakers that had submitted plans to sell self-driving cars. And the approvals by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were narrowly tailored to allow little more than further testing, not mass production.

Beijing Automotive Group and Changan Automobile in Chongqing will be allowed to operate self-driving taxis on three stretches of highway in each company’s hometown, the ministry said, and the taxis will not be allowed to change lanes while under computer control. On any other road, the taxis will need to be under the control of a driver.

The limited projects represent a recognition by the Chinese government that objectives set nearly five years ago, to begin mass production for sale to the general public by the end of this year, were too ambitious.

China's regulators began to pull back after a crash of a Xiaomi SU7 in late March killed three women, all university students. News of previous accidents involving assisted driving had been suppressed by China’s censors. But news of the March crash, on a highway in central China’s Anhui province, spread quickly and widely.