The carmaker said it will begin negotiations in the coming months with interested cities in China to see which is able to provide the necessary permissions, regulations and infrastructure to allow the experiment to go ahead.

“Autonomous driving can make a significant contribution to road safety,” Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo told a seminar in Beijing today (7 April) entitled 'Autonomous driving – could China take the lead?'.

“The sooner AD cars are on the roads, the sooner lives will start being saved,” he added.

“There are multiple benefits to AD cars,” said Mr Samuelsson. “That is why governments need to put in place the legislation to allow AD cars onto the streets as soon as possible. The car industry cannot do it all by itself. We need governmental help.”

Independent research has revealed that AD has the potential to significantly reduce the number of car accidents. Up to 90% of all accidents are also caused by human error, something that disappears with AD cars.

Mr Samuelsson welcomed moves by regulators and car makers in the US and Europe to develop AD cars and infrastructure, but he also encouraged all the parties involved to work more constructively together to avoid patchwork global regulations, technological duplication and needless expense.

“AD is not just about car technology. We need the right rules and the right laws,” Mr Samuelsson commented.

“It is natural for us to work together,” concluded Mr Samuelsson. “Our starting point is that both the public and private sectors stand to benefit from new technologies and industries, so it is better to build bridges and work together than to all go in different directions.”