Highway testing completed for China-developed smart trucks

CHANGCHUN -- A Chinese auto maker has completed the country's first highway test of the drive-smart functions of commercial heavy-duty trucks.

FAW Jiefang Automotive Co Ltd, a truck subsidiary of FAW Group, China's leading automaker, said on Tuesday that it has tested three Jiefang container trucks with autodriving functions on a section of the Changchun-Shenzhen Highway.

The trucks, which have a loading weight of 40 tonnes, can perform auto cruising and automatic alarms and braking. The Lane Keeping Assist System mode allows for hands-free driving.

Hu Hanjie, general manager of the company, said smart-driving vehicles are the future trend. The company aims to develop a new model with high-precision positioning abilities by 2018 and make another model based on 5G communications networks available for driving by 2020.

By 2025, the company is expected to develop its first self-driving truck.

Built in 1956, the company made China's first domestically produced truck. Since then, it has produced 6 million vehicles. In the first nine months of this year, it sold 198,000 vehicles, ranking first in China.