Gas-guzzlers flaw Ford’s green drive

Ford Motor Company has emerged as one of the least fuel efficient car manufacturers in the world in the same week it announced a &£1bn investment in greener cars.

The company narrowly avoided last place in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2006 fuel economy report. Its vehicles average 19.7 miles per gallon (mpg), compared with DaimlerChrysler’s 19.1mpg.

Environmental groups have slammed Ford for its reliance on oil. Jennifer Krill, zero emissions campaign director for Rainforest Action Network, says: “Bill Ford Jr’s downward spiral of oil addiction is devastating his company’s economic future.”

The news comes just a week after a Forbes Magazine report revealed that Ford produces five of the seven least environmentally sustainable cars in the world.

Britain has been chosen as the global centre for the six-year &£1bn green research project, and Ford claims it is the largest investment in the development of environmental technologies by a car manufacturer in this country.