Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Wednesday the ride-hailing company was on track to launch an initial public offering next year and had no plans to sell its self-driving car research arm.

Khosrowshahi told Reuters in an interview that the company was not planning to sell its Advanced Technologies Group "at this time."

"Ultimately, it is a big asset that we are building and we can monetize that in whatever way we want to. It's not something we're thinking about it at this point," he said. Khosrowshahi also said the company was "quite optimistic" the company would be able to resume testing of self-driving cars later this year after a fatal crash involving an autonomous Uber car in Tempe, Arizona in March.