Introduction (problem statement and relevance). One of the major tasks when autonomous vehicle motion implementing is control over the vehicle actuating mechanisms to complete the requests from the controllers responsible for the motion trajectory planning. Currently, the longitudinal dynamics control is performed by controlling the torque on the wheels from the power unit and braking system, while the lateral control is performed through steering control. The paper considers the existing approaches to motion control for vehicles of diff erent automation levels and diff erent types of controllers with their advantages and disadvantages.The purpose of the study is to conduct the analytical review of the approaches being used to control longitudinal and lateral dynamics of an autonomous vehicle, to compare the regularities and logic of the solutions being used and the vehicle theory, and to specify the main issues and problems of autonomous vehicle dynamics control.Methodology and research methods. Analytical research method: analysis of domestic and foreign technical literature suggesting the approaches to control autonomous vehicle actuating mechanisms.Scientifi c novelty and results. Analysis of the approaches when forming the algorithms to control autonomous vehicle actuating mechanisms has been performed and the regularities and logic of solutions being used and the vehicle theory have been compared. As a result of the analysis, a conclusion has been made that there are no approaches of controller synthesis to control actuating mechanisms of a highly automated vehicle, the structure of which is theoretically substantiated when solving the control problem taking into account the vehicle theory, optimal control principles and adaptive control principles.Practical signifi cance. The research results can be used when setting the task to develop lower level control systems using the quality functional where the controller synthesis is made following the results of solving the control task based on the vehicle theory, optimal control principles and adaptive control principles, and the controller structure is theoretically substantiated.