TSLA Tesla Inc

General Motors Co. said it would delay by at least several months a feature allowing hands-free driving on highways, underscoring the challenges auto makers face in perfecting autonomous-vehicle technology.

GM's so-called super-cruise feature that can control speed, braking and keep vehicles in their lanes won't be available until next year, the company said in a statement. The Detroit auto maker in October said the feature would debut this year on the all-new Cadillac CT6 sedan. The luxury car is scheduled to go into production later this year.

The super-cruise feature "breaks new ground with true hands-free capability for the highway and will be introduced in 2017," a GM spokesman said in an emailed statement. "Getting the technology right and doing it safely is most important, so the exact month of introduction cannot be announced at this time."

The spokesman didn't give a reason for the delay. Trade publication Automotive News reported the delay earlier this week.

Auto executives and government regulators are bullish on the potential safety benefits of driverless-car technology. The Obama administration this week proposed spending nearly $4 billion over a decade to make driverless cars more widespread.

Still, the technologies come with potential pitfalls, and the GM delay shows that even getting them ready for deployment can prove difficult.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra has said the super-cruise system must work flawlessly when introduced.

The real-world ramifications of how driverless cars work are already starting to emerge. Tesla Motors Inc. recently restricted use of its autopilot function after videos appeared online of drivers reading or sitting in the passenger seat while the vehicle moved. No one was injured.

Tesla will now disable the autopilot feature on residential streets and roads without a center divider, and prevent vehicles from exceeding posted speed limits by more than 5 miles an hour.

Write to Gautham Nagesh at gautham.nagesh@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2016 15:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

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