Three research councils are to give millions of pounds to a 15-year national programme to boost the United Kingdom's standing as a world leader in high-technology road vehicle manufacture.

The programme, based on a report Innovative Manufacturing of Road Vehicles, will be run by the Government-supported Innovative Manufacturing Initiative, which is sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Report author Peter Davies, director of Warwick University's Advanced Technology Centre, said that the motor industry has to tackle environmental concerns, transport congestion and worldwide competition.

The trend towards profitable but lower-volume vehicles "suits the UK very well," he added.

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The motor industry is the largest industrial sector in the UK, worth Pounds 11 billion in exports. Seven of the main international motor companies - GM, Rover-BMW, Ford, Nissan Peugeot, Honda and Toyota - have plants.

Universities, which should benefit from the programme and its links with industry, have pockets of expertise that can be used to develop a technology bank for suppliers.

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The call for project proposals goes out this week. In the first instance, projects will be sponsored for five years, extending possibly to ten. The main area of research will be transport telematics, popularly known as "star wars for cars". Future cars will be robots of technology packed with radars, computer controls, and guided by external highway information systems.

Other research areas include environmental technology - notably lightweight vehicle materials which will reduce fuel consumption and permit recycling - and supply chain engineering.

The vehicle research project is the fourth in a series of IMI programmes designed to stimulate the economy. It will share in the Pounds 100-million funding available also for industry-university projects in the aerospace, construction and processing fields.