Audi plans to take over the wheel in stop-and-go driving

FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Audi AG plans to roll out technology to enable autonomous driving in urban traffic, joining companies promoting features to ease the strain of operating a car.

Audi’s self-driving system takes over steering, braking and accelerating in stop-and-go traffic and operates at speeds up to 37 miles per hour, CFO Axel Strotbek said today in a speech at the Frankfurt School of Finance. The system will be available “very soon,” he said, without providing details.

The carmaker tested self-driving technology on a highway in Florida last month, Strotbek said.

The commitment from the Volkswagen AG luxury unit comes two days after General Motors announced it will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can travel on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on the gas pedal. Automakers including Daimler AG have been working on autonomous driving systems as well in a bid to make the car safer and easier to use. 

Audi is introducing 17 new or revamped models in 2014 and will move forward with the production of an electric version of the R8 sports car in a push to overtake BMW as the world's biggest luxury-car maker.

Volkswagen’s largest earnings contributor expects revenue to rise slightly this year on higher deliveries. Strotbek reaffirmed today that the brand’s global deliveries are set to exceed 1.7 million cars for the first time this year, up from 1.58 million in 2013.

Audi will invest 22 billion euros ($28 billion) in the next five years, with 70 percent going toward new products and technology.