Ghosn: Self-driving 'breakthrough' around the corner

The global head of the Renault Nissan Alliance says autonomous cars will be commonplace in just five years, giving drivers more time to handle other tasks at the wheel.

Carlos Ghosn spoke with reporters in Sydney this week, saying cars with advanced self-driving features will have a "huge advantage" over rival models.

"By 2022 most of the cars are going to have some kind of autonomy and some kind of connectivity," he says.

"We're going to go much further, we're going to have big screens, video conferencing... a much bigger level.  

"In the next five years most of the cars which will be on the street will have some capacity for autonomy."

The Renault Nissan Alliance, which includes other manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Alpine and Infiniti, has been testing self-driving tech in Infiniti luxury models that will take on the likes of Tesla as well as the prestige German trio of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Ghosn tested a prototype autonomous Infiniti Q50 sedan in January, reporting that "once you've experienced a car that drives itself, you will feel like you have stepped into the future".

The executive says vehicles with self-driving capabilities will be "indispensable" as motorists win back time lost to traffic jams.

"This is going to change the way people see cars - the car is becoming a mobile space where you can relax, teleconference, watch movies... compared to today where it is a transportation device," he says.

"It's a productivity gain, it's a comfort gain. It's a lot of quality of life you are adding to the consumer."

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