Race is on for first Brit-built hybrid

Toyota and Nissan are going head-to-head in a quest to offer the first British-built hybrid car.

Petrol-electric versions of Toyota's Auris and the Nissan Qashqai are currently under development and heading for UK and European showrooms in 2010.

But while Toyota has set its sights on being first, according to Auto Express magazine it's the 'eco-friendly' Qashqai that looks set to be quickest off the mark.

The mag claims that Nissan's hybrid 'crossover' 4x4 will start to roll off the company's Sunderland production lines early next year, and is likely to debut shared drive between an electric motor working one axle and a smaller petrol engine powering the other.

Toyota have yet to reveal exact details of the new Auris drivetrain, but the company has confirmed it will feature the ground-breaking Hybrid Synergy Drive seen in the brand's latest Prius model.

This means the Toyota newcomer, which is due to start production next summer from the company's Derbyshire plant, promises a full electric-only mode and ultra-low CO2 emissions.

Pricing has yet to be announced but if the Auris undercuts Honda's Insight - at £15,890 in base 'S' trim - the model may be a challenger for the title of cheapest hybrid available in the UK.

Speaking about his company's new model, Tadashi Arashima, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, said: "Our decision to produce a full hybrid in the UK reflects both our confidence in the quality and commitment of the TMUK workforce and the strength of our long-standing partnership with the UK Government."

But not far behind in the race to debut a Brit-built hybrid is Land Rover - often unfairly singled out by eco-mentalists as a maker of 'gas guzzlers'.

The 4x4 specialist last month confirmed that a production version of its exciting LRX concept will go into production at the company's Halewood plant in Merseyside.

The latest Landy's 'green' credentials will be sealed by an electric-drive rear axle coupled to a 2-litre turbodiesel engine, capable of running on bio-diesel.

CO2 output is predicted to be around 120g/km, putting the 4x4 in the cut-price £35 car tax band.

Altogether this news is a great sign that, despite the economic downturn, major car producers are maintaining their commitment to British manufacturing and that the UK-based industry is at the cutting edge of new motor technologies.

And if it doesn't cure the obsession with 4x4s exhibited by some eco-mentalists, we don't know what will!

Let's hope they now decide to get behind a vital British industry, instead of working as they have been to date to cost tens of thousands of people their jobs.

Honda's £80m vote of confidence in Britain

Honda has announced an £80 million investment in its manufacturing plant in Swindon.

The extra money is to be spent upgrading the paint shop and plastics operation, and will include £16 million for casting diesel engine blocks - a process only Honda Japan has undertaken to date.

The announcement will take Honda's total investment in Swindon to £1.38 billion. The company's operations on the site began 22 years ago and today the plant produces nearly 240,000 cars a year, with two million Hondas having rolled off Swindon's production lines in total.

The operation is also a huge export success, with 70% of their UK-built CR-V and Civic models destined for more than 60 export markets worldwide.

Ken Kier, senior vice president of Honda Europe, said: "This is a testament to the quality and commitment of 5,000 associates at Swindon and the quality of our component suppliers in the UK and abroad."

"Swindon will continue to be the heart of our European manufacturing operations in the future," he confirmed.

The good news for Swindon follows last month’s announcement of up to 800 new jobs to support a third production shift at Nissan's UK plant in Sunderland.

The boost for jobs comes on the back of the success of the Qashqai model, made at the plant.

Chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Paul Everitt commented: "Once again a highly-skilled British workforce has shown it can hold its own and that UK car making is alive and well," he added.

The news is confirmation of the statement in today's Budget that, contrary to the scare stories put about a few years ago by those misguided few who wanted us to join the euro, Britain continues to attract large flows of in inward foreign investment.

According to the Budget report, the UK remains the top European recipient of inward direct investment and second in the world only to the USA.

Nissan's good news for Sunderland

Two bits of good news recently from Nissan and their award-winning car-making facility in Sunderland.

First, the company has announced that thousands of new jobs are to be created through the building of a new £4.5 million logistics centre for processing and distributing parts.

Working with Sunderland City Council and the One North East development agency, in connection with the plan the company will also make improvements to surrounding roads, and build a business park on a 45-acre site to include office space, a hotel, a car showroom and industrial units.

It's hoped around 4,000 new jobs will be created in the area.

Second, it was also announced this week that the Sunderland site - Britain's largest car plant - is now exporting two of the cars it makes back to Japan.

Since March the factory has been building Qashqais for Nissan's home market - the first such move in a decade. But the crossover hatchback has now been joined by the Micra C+C.

An initial batch of 1,500 cars will go on sale in Japan in July.

More than 23,000 British-designed C+Cs have been exported to more than 45 markets since production began 18 months ago.

Nissan's European production chief Trevor Mann said: "Coming so soon after Qashqai, this is great news for our plant.

"To have two of our products competing over there speaks volumes both about the quality of our employees, and the cars they produce."

Nissan's investment and activities in the UK epitomise what politicians put at risk if they succumb to vocal eco-extremists pushing the idea that car users should be hit with punishing tax rises.

That can only make Britain an increasingly hostile environment for cars ... and, inevitably, those businesses and thousands of jobs connected with this country's car industry.