Audi to join Mercedes, BMW development alliance - paper

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Audi <NSUG.DE> is set to join an alliance with rivals Daimler <DAIGn.DE> and BMW <BMWG.DE> to develop advanced driving assistance systems, German weekly Wirtschaftswoche said on Thursday.

The companies are developing highly automated driving functions to enable so-called level 3 autonomous driving on highways as well as automated parking.

Audi, a unit of Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> will announce the alliance at the Frankfurt auto show in early September, Wirtschaftswoche said.

Volkswagen will continue to develop fully autonomous vehicles in cooperation with Ford <F.N>, Wirtschaftswoche said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Thomas Seythal)