Sharjah24 – Reuters: Honda Motor Co Ltd on Thursday (March 4) said it will sell a limited batch of its flagship Legend sedan equipped with level 3 autonomous driving technology that enables vehicles to navigate congested highways.

The Japanese automaker's plan to sell 100 of the vehicles with the advanced technology would represent a significant step towards its goal of being the first company to mass produce a car with level 3 technology. The limited edition Legend will be sold from Friday (March 5) in Japan at a retail price of 11 million yen ($103,000), Honda said

The Legend's "Traffic Jam Pilot" system can control acceleration, braking and steering under certain conditions. It can also alert the driver to respond when handing over the control, such as vibration on the driver's seatbelt, Honda said. And if the driver continues to be unresponsive, the system will assist with an emergency stop by decelerating and stopping the vehicle while alerting surrounding cars with hazard lights and the horn, it added.

Global automakers and tech companies, including Google parent Alphabet Inc's Waymo and Tesla Inc, have been investing heavily in autonomous driving.