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Ford ending Focus, C-Max production in Michigan after 2018

Ford will no longer produce the Focus and C-Max at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, MI, beyond 2018. United Auto Workers vice president Jimmy Settles confirmed this in a letter Thursday, which was posted on Twitter. According to the UAW Ford Department's tweet, production of the Focus and C-Max will shift to Mexico. Ford isn't confirming this, though – a spokesperson tells Autoblog, "We didn't say that." Instead, Ford issued the following statement about the matter: We will move production of the next-generation Ford Focus and C-Max, which currently are built at Michigan Assembly Plant, beginning in 2018. We actively are pursuing future vehicle alternatives to produce at Michigan Assembly and will discuss this issue with UAW leadership as part of the upcoming negotiations. Earlier this year, Ford announced layoffs of 700 employees at the Michigan Assembly Plant, citing slow sales of both the Focus and C-Max. The MAP was once heralded as a flexible, futuristic facility when it was retooled for C-segment car production in 2009. Prior to that, the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs were built at the Wayne facility. It also produced the iconic Ford Bronco. The future of the MAP is uncertain, but the UAW remains hopeful. In Settles' letter, he writes, "We are extremely confident that a new product commitment will be secured during the upcoming 2015 negotiations and that the Michigan Assembly Plant will maintain a full production schedule." Related Video:

Road & Track samples rare 1995 Ford Mustang Cobra R

The modern performance variant of the Ford Mustang enjoys a long, illustrious history. While well-known examples like the Boss 302, Shelby GT350, and Shelby GT500 get all the attention, the modern versions of these cars may not have been possible had it not been for the three generations of the Cobra R, sold in 1993, 1995, and 2000. Limited to just 250 examples, the second-generation model wasn't as rare as the Fox-body Cobra R that preceded it, but they were still pricey and difficult to acquire. Customers were required to hold a competition license in order to take delivery, and prices were roughly equivalent to $59,000 in today's money. As Road & Track tells it, neither of those facts were a handicap – Ford sold its entire roster of 1995 Cobra Rs in just five days. RT's Jack Baruth managed to score a drive in an extremely low-mileage example of this now-vintage track star. He delivers an interesting look into the way a performance car from two decades ago behaves in today's world, and finds that despite its age, the 1995 Cobra R is still "a true sweetheart." Check out the full feature over at Road & Track. Related Video:

Ford using robot drivers to test durability [w/video]

In testing the durability of its upcoming fullsize Transit vans, Ford has begun using autonomous robotic technology to pilot vehicles through the punishing courses of its Michigan Proving Grounds test facility. The autonomous tech allows Ford to run more durability tests in a single day than it could with human drivers, as well as create even more challenging tests that wouldn't be safe to run with a human behind the wheel.
The technology being used was developed by Utah-based Autonomous Solutions, and isn't quite like the totally autonomous vehicles being developed by companies like Google and Audi for use out in the real world. Rather, Ford's autonomous test vehicles follow a pre-programmed course and their position is tracked via GPS and cameras that are being monitored from a central control room. Though the route is predetermined, the robotic control module operates the steering, acceleration and braking to keep the vehicle on course as it drives over broken concrete, cobblestones, metal grates, rough gravel, mud pits and oversize speed bumps.
Scroll down to watch the robotic drivers in action, though be warned that you're headed for disappointment if you expect to see a Centurion behind the wheel (nerd alert!). The setup looks more like a Mythbusters experiment than a scene from Battlestar Galactica.