HANGZHOU, China, March 18 (Reuters) - China's Zeekr

Group said on Tuesday it would start selling an electric

sports utility vehicle (SUV) equipped with technology that will

allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel, a

first for the industry as a smart driving tech war heats up.

The Zeekr 9X SUV will have so-called L3-ready autonomous

driving capabilities, supported by the company's G-Pilot

artificial intelligence-powered smart driving system, it said.

The car will be officially unveiled at the Shanghai autoshow and

Zeekr aims to start deliveries in the second half of 2025.

Whether drivers will be able to use the car's level three

autonomous driving functions on Chinese roads, however, is still

subject to regulatory approval.

The auto industry has defined five levels of autonomous

driving, from cruise control at level one to fully self-driving

cars at level five, and level three means cars can drive without

a human driver's supervision. In reality, this means drivers can

take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for

extended periods, but are expected to be able to take over in

seconds.

Level three technology has so far only been used on a trial

basis worldwide. China granted approval in June to a first group

of nine automakers including BYD and Nio

, as well as major state-owned manufacturers such as

Changan Automobile and GAC, to carry out tests on level three

vehicles on public roads.

The tests are seen as a must for regulators to approve the

cars for public sale and business operation in China.

According to Chinese laws, automakers will take legal

responsibility for traffic accidents in the event of level three

system failures, and drivers are still required to maintain

constant attention and take control of cars with level two

capabilities, such as Tesla's Full Self-Driving.

Zeekr is owned by Geely, which partnered with Qianli

Technology, a company controlled by AI company Megvii founder

Yin Qi, to launch G-Pilot earlier this month.