BMW, which became the world’s largest maker of luxury cars by focusing on Autobahn thrills, is shifting gears to automated driving as urbanisation and changing attitudes toward cars redefine transportation.

Futuristic self-driving cars travelling along California roads have needed human intervention to stay safe, according to test reports.

Google will begin testing self-driving cars of its own design on public roads this summer, but they will have steering wheels and brakes, which is not what the company described a year ago.