Honda Legend will be sold from Friday in Japan at a retail price of JPY 11 million (roughly Rs. 75 lakhs).
The Honda Legend sedan is equipped with level 3 autonomous driving technology
Honda Motor on Thursday said it will sell a limited batch of its flagship Legend sedan equipped with level 3 autonomous driving technology that enables vehicles to navigate congested highways.
When the level 3 Traffic Jam Pilot is activated, a driver can watch movies or use the navigation on the screen, helping to mitigate fatigue, and stress when driving in a traffic jam, Honda said in a statement.
The Japanese automaker's plan to sell 100 of the vehicles with the advanced technology would represent a significant step towards its goal of being the first company to mass produce a car with level 3 technology.
The Legend's Traffic Jam Pilot system can control acceleration, braking, and steering under certain conditions.
It can also alert the driver to respond when handing over the control, such as vibration on the driver's seatbelt, Honda said. And if the driver continues to be unresponsive, the system will assist with an emergency stop by decelerating and stopping the vehicle while alerting surrounding cars with hazard lights and the horn, it added.
The announcement comes after the Japanese government awarded a safety certification to Honda's Traffic Jam Pilot in November.
Global automakers and tech companies, including Google parent Alphabet's Waymo and Tesla, have been investing heavily in autonomous driving.
Yet even as the technology advances, regulations on autonomous driving differ from country to country. Audi unveiled an A8 sedan with level 3 technology in 2017 but regulatory hurdles have prevented it from being widely introduced.
The limited edition Legend will be sold from Friday in Japan at a retail price of JPY 11 million (roughly Rs. 75 lakhs), Honda said.
The automaker has no plans to increase production or sales of a level 3-equipped Legend for now, its operating officer told reporters on Thursday.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
Is Samsung Galaxy F62 the best phone under Rs. 25,000? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.