The shortlist for the SMMT Award for Automotive Innovation 2013 has been announced.
Ford Motor Company could be in line to receive a prestigious award designed to celebrate innovation in the automotive industry.
The carmaker's 1.0 Ecoboost engine has made the shortlist for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Award for Automotive Innovation, which is sponsored by GKN Driveline and supported by The Times.
It is the fourth time that the prize has been given out – and the ceremony is aimed at not only identifying the manufacturers that have come up with the most innovative ideas of the past year, but to celebrate products that have the potential to transform the industry as a whole and to show the UK's capabilities when it comes to engineering and automotive design.
The Ford 1.0 Ecoboost engine was selected because it offers big-engine performance and 65 miles per gallon – yet this all comes from a three-cylinder 1.0-litre powerplant.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT, said: "The outstanding quality of this year's award entries clearly reflects the wealth of design, research and development and engineering talent that we have in the UK automotive sector
"Diversity is one of the UK's strengths and I am pleased to see so many different areas of the sector represented on the shortlist. I look forward to judging the award."
In order to take home the award, Ford will have to impress a judging panel of leading industry figures when they sing the praises of their innovations as part of a special presentation.
The carmaker will have to overcome stiff competition if it is to emerge victorious, however. This is because the shortlist also includes McLaren Automotive's McLaren P1 – motorsport technologies deployed in a road car – and Productive and Tata Steel's The Proving Factory, which is manufacturing initiative designed to plug the gap between research and development and production.
Other entrants include Indico from We Predict, YASA-400 from YASA Motors and Zircotec Thermohold from Zircotec – a new approach to thermal coating technology.
By Bob Fletcher