SIR Ian Gibson, the driving force who helped make Nissan's Sunderland plant the most efficient in Europe, has a new job.

He will use his tough negotiating skills to head the Government's new automotive industry partnership, set up to coordinate a strategy to protect thousands of jobs in vehicle and component manufacturing.

Sir Ian was asked by Trade Secretary Stephen Byers to head the Automotive Industry Innovation and Growth Team.

He is due to meet Government officials next week to discuss the remit of his team.

Sir Ian, former senior vice president of Nissan Motor Co, stood down from his previous employers earlier this month, after 17 years at the company.

He joined Nissan from Ford in 1984, and is well respected in the car industry as a senior executive who can get things done.

German car manufacturer BMW attempted to headhunt him a couple of years ago, believing he was the only man who could turn round its troubled Rover subsidiary.

His new job will bring him into contact with both his former employers and those who tried to recruit him.

The last year has been a tough one for the British motor industry. Rover has been broken up by BMW, Ford has vowed to end car assembly at its Dagenham site and Vauxhall will cease production in Luton.

Only Sir Ian's previous employers have had any good news for car workers in the UK.

In January Nissan, part- owned by French car maker Renault, chose the Sunderland car plant to build its replacement for the Micra.

It won't be an easy job for the former Nissan man. He will have the new environmental regulations, the climate change levy and the weakness of the euro to deal with.

Sir Ian believes these will all put pressure on car manufacturers who will have to decide, like Nissan before them, if the UK is the best place to build cars in the future.

The sector currently sustains more than 250,000 jobs in the UK.

Sir Ian plans to bring together industry experts and Government officials in a bid to prove that the UK remains open for business to the motor manufacturers.

One man who believes Sir Ian is the right person to put the British car industry back at the top of European production is John Cushnaghan, managing director of Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK.

He said: "It is largely thanks to Sir Ian's efforts that Nissan has a significant strategic position, not just in the UK but Europe as well."