The invention discloses a novel vehicle positioning algorithm for an automatic parking system. The novel vehicle positioning algorithm comprises the following steps of 1, an Ackerman steering model of Ackerman offset being considered in a dead reckoning algorithm; 2, the steering transmission ratio having the nonlinear characteristic, and fitting being conducted through a quadratic nonlinear function; 3, calculating course angle increment in a dead reckoning algorithm by adopting the number of front wheel pulses; 4, calculating the unit pulse mileage in the dead reckoning algorithm by adopting a straight line and an average value calibrated under the minimum turning radius; and 5, for error correction of dead reckoning, a visual or ultrasonic sensor being adopted to identify relative parking space information, and an error of the current vehicle pose being corrected. The algorithm model is simple, the novel dead reckoning algorithm is designed based on the mileage pulse number, the vehicle body parameters and the vehicle steering angle information and considering the Ackerman offset, large computing power is not occupied, engineering application is facilitated, meanwhile, the application range is wide, and cost is low.