www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, September 30, 2016 | 8 Ford's self-driving cars are already in the works continued from p.1 "We had almost 1.9 million people buy vehicles in 2012 so that broke an auto industry record. Then we broke it again in 2013; we broke it again in 2014; we broke it again in 2015. We expected 2016 would level off and not break a record, but so far this year almost 2 million Canadians are buying vehicles in Canada and we'll set another record," said Craig. "So this is a great time for the industry, it's a great time for Ford Canada." Craig said since 2012 nearly $900 million has been invested in the Oakville Ford Assembly Complex to create a global platform that now serves 100 countries around the world. The federal and provincial governments contributed $142.5 million to help keep the Oakville plant competitive in 2013. As a result, Craig said vehicles produced in Oakville are now shipped to China, South America, the Middle East, Africa and across North America. Craig also noted that for the first time ever, both left-hand drive and right-hand drive vehicles are being built at the Oakville plant. "When I came to Canada there was a lot of chatter about Canada's competitiveness in terms of attracting investments. That was a great example that proved that Canada can compete with global markets to attract these investments. It's made us very, very proud," said Craig. "In fact, that investment has resulted in an incremental 2,000 jobs at the Oakville Assembly Plant so we now employ 5,200 people." The picture Craig painted was not entirely positive. She noted our manufacturing in Canada has been on the decline for the last two decades and shortly after she arrived in Oakville in 2011, the Ford St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Southwold, Ont., closed its doors. She said Ford's ability to remain competitive and attract investments is critical going forward. This is important now more than ever, Craig said, as Ford hammers out a new four-year labour agreement with the labour union Unifor. "It's vital we get this right because obviously, without a competitive labour agreement, we won't be able to attract new investments in the future," nounced that by 2021 the company would be selling fully autonomous vehicles. Craig emphasized these will be vehicles without brakes, pedals or steering wheels. "It's a big deal and it is going to happen," she said. Initially, Craig said, these autonomous vehicles would be used in big cities to offer an Uber-like ride sharing service, but without the driver. The Ford Canada CEO said her company has been researching this technology for the past 10 years. In the video, the driverless vehicles can be seen on closed courses turning corners, stopping at stop signs and passing other vehicles. Researchers in the videos noted that expert driving behaviours could be distilled down into algorithms that can be programmed, allowing an autonomous vehicle to know how to regain control of a vehicle in an emergency situation. Laser scanners, located on a vehicle's roof, create a 3D picture of the world around the vehicle, allowing it to function. see Ford on p.11 Ford Motor Company of Canada CEO, Dianne Craig gives her keynote speech at the 62nd Annual Oakville Chamber of Commerce Chair's Dinner held at the Oakville Conference & Banquet Centre Tuesday (Sept. 27) evening. Jayson Mills photo said Craig. "We've got a great working relationship with Unifor. Jerry Dias is the president, he's just a fantastic leader and I am confident we will work through it and reach an agreement that will strengthen the Canadian auto sector." In discussing what's next for Ford, Craig spoke about self-driving cars and showed a video of Ford researchers testing the technology. 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