Sweden-based Volvo Car Group on Monday announced an ambition plan to develop self-driving cars, with a promise that a fleet of 100 robot cars will hit the road by 2017.

Volvo said the project dubbed "Drive Me -- Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility" would officially start in 2014, and that it would test its "autonomous" cars on 50-kilometer (30 miles) stretch of selected roads in the city of Goteborg, Sweden, starting in 2017.

The company called the project the world's "first large-scale autonomous driving pilot" project, in which the robot cars would assume all driving functions, though a driver will be present in the car to handle any risky situation.

Erik Coelingh, technical specialist at Volvo, said the company aimed at developing cars capable of handling all possible traffic scenarios on their own, including finding a safe 'harbor' in case the driver is unable to regain control.

Speaking on the topic, Coelingh added, "Our approach is based on the principle that autonomously driven cars must be able to move safely in environments with non-autonomous vehicles and unprotected road users."

Volvo's self-driving cars would even be capable of parking themselves on their own.  The owner will be able to leave the car, and it will find a vacant space to park by itself.