Ford's environmental image suffered a blow yesterday when Greenpeace besieged the US car manufacturer's Norwegian headquarters demanding it abandon plans to scrap hundreds of electric cars.
Activists occupied the roof of the offices outside Oslo after Ford refused to sell the second-hand "Th!nk" electric vehicles in favour of dumping them.
"It is unacceptable that one of the world's largest car producers wants to send environmentally friendly technology to the scrap heap," said Truls Gulowsen, of Norwegian Greenpeace.
Ford said it had to scrap the vehicles because they could be unreliable and so damage its brand image. It had rejected several offers to buy, refurbish and sell on the cars, it said.
The Th!nk cars were developed by a Norwegian company bought by Ford in the late 1990s with the aim of meeting Californian demands for zero emission vehicles. But following reductions in the Californian standards, the 400-strong test fleet will now be dismantled and partially recycled. The cars have proved unpopular because they have a range of just 53 miles between recharges.