The invention discloses a cruise control method and system of an automobile. Through a cruise control torque requirement calculation module in the cruise control system is used for receiving an engine rotation speed signal and a current cruise target speed input by a driver, a gearbox control module is used for obtaining a current cruise target speed signal and a current simulation accelerator opening signal to execute corresponding clutch control and gear control, and finally a system torque coordination module is used for controlling an engine ignition angle and a throttle opening degree to obtain current required torque, so that in the cruise control process, the automobile achieves downshifting fast acceleration or downshifting fast deceleration. According to the cruise control method, an automatic gearbox control unit and an engine controller are effectively combined, the problem that in the prior art, in the cruise control process, the automobile can not achieve fast acceleration and fast deceleration is solved, the automobile can make a faster response when encountering risks in the cruise control process, and the driving safety of the automobile in the cruise control process is further improved.