By Mauro Orru 
 

Daimler AG's luxury-car business Mercedes-Benz received the go-ahead to deploy vehicles with its automated driving system on German roads next year.

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority granted approval for Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with its Drive Pilot feature to hit the road in the first half of 2022, the German car maker said Thursday.

The system controls the vehicle speed and distance and guides it within its lane, enabling customers to drive in a conditionally automated mode at up to 60 kilometers an hour (37 miles an hour) in heavy traffic on suitable highway sections in Germany.

Mercedes-Benz is offering its Drive Pilot feature on 13,191 kilometers (8,197 miles) of highway in Germany, but is already conducting test drives in the U.S. and China, where it plans to roll out the technology as soon as there is a national legal framework.

"With the approval of the authorities, we have now achieved a breakthrough: We are the first manufacturer to put conditionally automated driving into series production in Germany," Chief Technology Officer Markus Schaefer said.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 09, 2021 11:28 ET (16:28 GMT)