Ford Motor will today announce it is to spend £1bn over the next six years on British research and development projects designed to improve the fuel efficiency of its vehicles. The investment is a significant chunk of the US company's $8bn-a-year global R&D budget and is mostly re-allocated from other projects...The investment follows a rethink of Ford's approach to the environment, which also led this month to the company dumping a commitment by Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive, to be able to produce 250,000 hybrid petrol-electric cars a year by 2010. Ford has the worst US fuel efficiency of any carmaker and is frequently targeted by environmental protesters, in spite of the personal interest of Mr Ford in the issue.