diff --git a/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c b/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
index 755f5f0ec1..31a01675c0 100644
--- a/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
+++ b/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
@@ -433,6 +433,10 @@ void auto_init(void)
     extern void auto_init_tsl2561(void);
     auto_init_tsl2561();
 #endif
+#ifdef MODULE_VCNL40X0
+    extern void auto_init_vcnl40x0(void);
+    auto_init_vcnl40x0();
+#endif
 #ifdef MODULE_VEML6070
     extern void auto_init_veml6070(void);
     auto_init_veml6070();
diff --git a/sys/auto_init/saul/auto_init_vcnl40x0.c b/sys/auto_init/saul/auto_init_vcnl40x0.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b8d1e3feda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/auto_init/saul/auto_init_vcnl40x0.c
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 Inria
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup     auto_init_saul
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief       Auto initialization of VCNL40X0 driver.
+ *
+ * @author      Alexandre Abadie <alexandre.abadie@inria.fr>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#ifdef MODULE_VCNL40X0
+
+#include "log.h"
+#include "saul_reg.h"
+
+#include "vcnl40x0_params.h"
+
+#define ENABLE_DEBUG (0)
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Define the number of configured sensors
+ */
+#define VCNL40X0_NUMOF    (sizeof(vcnl40x0_params) / sizeof(vcnl40x0_params[0]))
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Allocation of memory for device descriptors
+ */
+static vcnl40x0_t vcnl40x0_devs[VCNL40X0_NUMOF];
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Memory for the SAUL registry entries
+ */
+static saul_reg_t saul_entries[VCNL40X0_NUMOF * 2];
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Reference the driver structs.
+ * @{
+ */
+extern const saul_driver_t vcnl40x0_proximity_saul_driver;
+extern const saul_driver_t vcnl40x0_illuminance_saul_driver;
+/** @} */
+
+void auto_init_vcnl40x0(void)
+{
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < VCNL40X0_NUMOF; i++) {
+        LOG_DEBUG("[auto_init_saul] initializing vcnl40x0 #%u\n", i);
+
+        if (vcnl40x0_init(&vcnl40x0_devs[i],
+                          &vcnl40x0_params[i]) != VCNL40X0_OK) {
+            LOG_ERROR("[auto_init_saul] error initializing vcnl40x0 #%u\n", i);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        /* proximity */
+        saul_entries[(i * 2)].dev = &(vcnl40x0_devs[i]);
+        saul_entries[(i * 2)].name = vcnl40x0_saul_reg_info[i].name;
+        saul_entries[(i * 2)].driver = &vcnl40x0_proximity_saul_driver;
+
+        /* illuminance */
+        saul_entries[(i * 2) + 1].dev = &(vcnl40x0_devs[i]);
+        saul_entries[(i * 2) + 1].name = vcnl40x0_saul_reg_info[i].name;
+        saul_entries[(i * 2) + 1].driver = &vcnl40x0_illuminance_saul_driver;
+
+        /* register to saul */
+        saul_reg_add(&(saul_entries[(i * 2)]));
+        saul_reg_add(&(saul_entries[(i * 2) + 1]));
+    }
+}
+#else
+typedef int dont_be_pedantic;
+#endif /* MODULE_VCNL40X0 */