FORD is to make Britain its global centre for research into environmentally friendly power for cars. This will include electric and hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

The American automotive giant is expected to announce the move tomorrow, on the eve of the British Motor Show. Ford yesterday declined to comment, but industry rivals said the company was unlikely to set up a new stand-alone research centre, and would instead expand facilities at its existing UK technical centres. It is not known if new jobs will be created.

Ford has research centres at Dunton in Essex, Gaydon in Warwickshire, and Whitley near Coventry. The latter two centres specialise in two British luxury brands owned by Ford, Aston Martin and Jaguar.

The Ford move will be an important boost for car manufacturing in Britain, which has suffered setbacks with the collapse last year of MG Rover, the impending closure of Peugeot’s Ryton factory near Coventry, and the scrapping of a shift at Vauxhall’s plant at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside.

It will put Britain at the forefront of motor-industry research. Carmakers are scrambling to find other ways of powering vehicles because of rising oil prices and concern that greenhouse-gas emissions are changing the climate.

Toyota, the leading Japanese manufacturer, has stolen a march on rivals with a range of hybrid vehicles, which achieve fuel savings by combining petrol and electric engines.

Most of the large carmakers are studying a range of alternatives, including ethanol and other biofuels, as well as other types of hybrid and pure electric drives.

Meanwhile, Nanjing Automotive, the Chinese carmaker that bought MG from its administrators last year, will tomorrow unveil its plans to restart production.

It is expected to assemble a sports car based on the MG TF in part of Longbridge, the Birmingham car plant that is MG Rover’s spiritual home. The sports car will also be assembled in America, at a plant in Oklahoma.

It is thought Nanjing will also announce plans to make up to three saloon models in China.

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