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This could be your first autonomous vehicle

While Google's autonomous fleet of robot cars prowls Silicon Valley and gets all the press, the first, or one of the first, truly autonomous vehicles you may ride in could be something like this: The humble, people-moving Navia. Developed by a French company called Induct, the Navia is ringed with laser beams (not frickin' laser beams. Ed.) that help it navigate through city streets or college campuses without the aid of a track in the ground, a rail or even GPS (GPS is not accurate enough, Induct says).

Ford performance-vehicles boss jumps to Volkswagen position

Jost Capito, Ford's global performance-vehicles and motorsports chief, is jumping to Volkswagen to run the German automaker's motorsports operations. Ford is in the process of launching high-performance versions of some of its newest cars, including the Focus ST. The company also has a version of the Fiesta ST as a concept.

Driverless 'pods' to hit Milton Keynes

DRIVERLESS cars will transport people through the streets of a British town in a £1.5 million project aimed at boosting green technology. From 2015 an initial batch of 20 driver-operated "pods", which will be able to carry two people, will be run on designated pathways separated from pedestrians in Milton Keynes. But by mid-2017 it is planned that 100 fully autonomous vehicles will run on pathways alongside people, using sensors to avoid collisions with obstacles.