Online search giant Baidu Inc said on Monday that it has set up a new business unit to spearhead its automobile efforts and plans to put self-driving cars on the roads in the next three years.

The Beijing-based company, which successfully completed the test drive of its self-driven car on various roads last week, said it intends to mass-produce the vehicles within five years.

Baidu indicated that the new business unit will focus on research and development of self-driving technology as well as build the industrial chain to support the production of next-generation cars.