Category: Ford

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According to a report by CarandDriver.com, the Ford Flex is set to hit the chopping block after what’s been in a rough couple of months. With the United Auto Worker’s strike still on-going, salt has been thrown in the wounds as Ford announced it will stop making the Ford Flex crossover and lay off 450 workers at its Oakville, Ontario plant. Production is slated to end in late November and layoffs are expected early next year.

Marketed to the consumers as family minivan, it resembled more a tall wagon than a true crossover. It also didn’t help that over a year ago, Ford announced it would stop making all cars except the Mustang and instead keep manufacturing SUV’s and pickups. It keeps being a disappointing year for the automaker and General Motors. Stay tuned to WLTS for more news and updates

Photos courtesy of: CarandDriver, Ford, USNews

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If you live in a city like New York City, you know that sometimes, you’re almost better of NOT getting a car. From the insane traffic, to driving around for three hours at 3AM to find a parking space (trust me, I know this feeling), having a car in an urban space feels dreadful. Instead of debuting a new car, Ford decided to unveil a new artificial intelligence that will help your daily commute around a rambunctious city. They decided to use Ann Arbor, Michigan as test city in order to show of the intelligence system.

Using AI and data from various sources such as traffic cameras, parking garages, and police reports, its job is to analyze everything from where collisions are most likely to happen to which roads would be best served by public transportation or scooters. 

Safety, parking, transit, and a 3D model that makes sense of the other three is what the system is composed off. The AI system uses its deep data sources to figure out if there’s enough parking spaces in the city. Most likely, there is, but a city is so big that you may even pass one without even knowing it when you’re going in circles. Again, since this is an Ann Arbor, which is a city but nowhere the size of NYC, it remains to be seen how this technology works once you expand its radius.

The technology isn’t quit ready yet to be launched to the public. The benefits of a potential release will be massive. Often, public street lights are broken or ignored, so seeing the traffic ahead of time and taking the best route to avoid being late to work is massive. Finding parking spaces when you’re in a bind will do wonders for your sleep if you’re working late and desperately trying to get home to sleep.