Audi has announced that it has been awarded the first autonomous driving permit for the state of California. Scott Keogh, President of Audi America said "Audi is a driving force behind the research taking automated driving from science fiction to pre production readiness." Koegh also said, "Obtaining the first permit issues b the State of California shows that we intend to remain the leader in this vital technology frontier." David Undercoffler of the Los Angeles Times said, "Audi isn't wasting any time putting its new permit to use. The automaker already has a specially equipped A7 autonomous car in the San Francisco area that it plans to begin testing immediately."