DETROIT — While other automakers — notably crosstown rival General Motors and German giant Volkswagen — shift their focus to vehicles powered by electricity alone, Ford continues to develop and invest in hybrids, which combine gasoline engines with electric batteries.

A new study by Navigant Research rates three companies as leaders in the race to develop and make money on self-driving, autonomous cars and trucks.

Looking like a delegation of toasters from space, a generation of electrically powered, self-driving mail trucks will roll out of a suburban Detroit industrial park later this year. Their mission: Revolutionize mail and package delivery.

A pair of self-driving shuttle buses should begin motoring around Ann Arbor, Mich., later in April in an ambitious test of the new technology.

On a blustery spring day that showed exactly why Michigan’s range of weather is perfect for testing self-driving and connected vehicles, the American Center for Mobility formally opened and announced a far-reaching deal April 4 with Microsoft.

The only engineering facility built expressly to test self-driving vehicles will officially open April 4 at the historic 335-acre Willow Run site just west of Detroit.

While Wall Street pounds Ford Motor Co.’s response to high-profile, recent trends like self-driving vehicles and the shift from sedans to SUVs, an underappreciated, century-old company mainstay continues to chug along, delivering dominant sales and consistent profits.