The PSA Group is taking its first steps in China with autonomous vehicles, an innovative technology that will arrive very soon

Technology is bringing important advances to contemporary vehicles, but it is a sector that wants to go much further. Among these short and medium-term goals is autonomous driving, a system that the PSA Group is also beginning to develop. This French family has chosen China as the setting for its first trials on the Asian continent, where it enjoys strong influence thanks to its warm reception in the country. However, engineers at Peugeot as well as at Citroën have wanted to move up a level, and continue improving their autonomous vehicles, which will carve out a place in the market alongside electric powertrains.

After carrying out tests on French roads since 2015, the PSA Group has obtained the permits to travel to China and continue its research. Achieving a fully autonomous vehicle is not a simple process, and this is why the French company has moved to Asia to innovate and improve on the advances it had achieved until now.

China is not only one of the countries where PSA vehicles enjoy the greatest popularity, but also a perfect location for testing autonomous driving. Its dense traffic and the large number of vehicles on the road will force the French engineers to develop important safety measures and sensors capable of recognising and detecting any setback.

Now, the systems that until now were used in Europe have had to be recalibrated, with the aim of introducing the infrastructure, geolocation systems and user behaviour in China. This point will be crucial, since production autonomous vehicles must know every single detail of each area of the world, with the aim of making them as adaptable as possible, something PSA intends to offer with its brands.

“Obtaining the authorisation that allows us to test autonomous driving on open roads in China is an important achievement for Groupe PSA, since China is the largest automotive market in the world and is in the midst of an expansive phase in the development of autonomous driving technology. It is a new decisive step for our AVA programme (Autonomous Vehicle for All), whose goal is to offer customers safe and intuitive autonomous vehicles. It is also a new starting point for bringing our most advanced technologies within reach of our Chinese customers,” said Carla Gohin, Innovation Director of Groupe PSA.

With this premise, we are at one of the most crucial points for the PSA Group, which seeks at all costs to remain faithful to its technological philosophy, which will very soon be represented by both electric motors and autonomous vehicles. For the time being these tests are being carried out with production models, but very soon we will learn of more innovations that will be presented alongside new members of the French house.