German luxury car maker BMW is planning to launch self-driving vehicles by 2021 in China, according to Maximilian Doemling, BMW's senior manager, during a summit on artificial intelligence and robotics in Shenzhen, China.

"If you're expecting autonomous function where you can be on the highway, press the button and the car does everything for you, like lane changing and driving, and you can play with smartphone, and you're always safe, we had the big announcement with Intel and Mobileye that we will have the iNext in 2021," Doemling said.

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BMW's i-Next series, which will feature its 'i' family of electric vehicles, is anticipated to release a fully electric powertrain that is rumored to be the same as the one that powered the second-generation i8, according to Car Scoops.

According to ReadWrite, choosing China as its Launchpad for its iNext series come to no surprise as the country is the biggest car market. Furthermore, Chinese consumers have also started shifting from General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen to premium brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The rush for electric vehicles has seen more than 200 Chinese firms establish 4,000 new models and introducing various prototypes at motor shows, thanks to the government's commitment to boost annual sales of green vehicles over the next decade.

That said, BMW is positioning itself to get a piece of China's booming car market. Aside from teaming up with Intel and Mobileye to realize its iNext series, BMW is also a part of a consortium of German makers that acquired Here Maps, giving the company another resource to build its driverless system.

TagsBMW, Electric Vehicles, Self-driving cars, china, Intel, Mobileye, iNext, BMW iNext