Ford and labour unions were today holding talks that could decide the future of Land Rover - a subsidiary of the US car giant - and its 8,000 employees in Solihull.
The talks followed an ultimatum from Ford, the second biggest car firm in the US, for plans for efficiency and quality improvements to be devised for the Midlands plant.
Land Rover officials were striking an upbeat note ahead of the talks, which are scheduled to begin at 5pm.
"We are genuinely hopeful that the outcome this time will be successful," Don Hume, a Land Rover spokesman, said. "The unions have separately suggested that they are very confident of success, so ... it looks increasingly likely that we should come away from this with a plan for the future."
Labour representatives this week briefed union officials at Solihull about progress on a so-called "road map" to changes in operating and working procedures at the plant. Workers at Solihull will be balloted on any proposed agreement.
The Transport and General Workers Union said shop stewards had given "an extremely positive response, which [unions] believe will enable a successful outcome of the discussions with Mark Fields of Ford Europe".
The Solihull plant has already undergone extensive overhaul since Land Rover, one of the most prestigious brand names in British motoring, was acquired by Ford in 2000.
Huge investment has been put into modernising some buildings that pre-dated the second world war and into constructing new assembly halls. The Range Rover, launched in 2002, was the first of five new Land Rovers due to roll off the assembly line over a six-year period.
Despite this modernisation, Ford in May told Land Rover to draw up a detailed plan to improve quality and achieve world-class competitiveness in five years.
"We are talking about the future of the plant, and the team has got to deliver," Mr Fields said.
Land Rover lags well below the industry average in terms of quality as measured by J D Power and Associates, a US research firm, and badly trails Jaguar. Jaguar is also part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which, as well as Land Rover, consists of Aston Martin and Volvo.
The failure of today's talks would not prompt Ford to shut the plant immediately, but the US company could decide to starve it of new funds.
Ford wants Land Rover to become as competitive as Jaguar within three years, and as competitive as other car makers within five.
Ford's luxury car business is key to it hitting its goal of $7bn (£3.9bn) in pre-tax profits by 2006. PAG and Ford's Lincoln brand are meant to account for a third of that profit, but PAG suffered a pre-tax loss of $362m in the second quarter, following a profit of $166m a year earlier, after being hit by the strong euro, model changes and higher operating costs.
The US is the largest export market for Land Rover products, with sales approaching 40,000 annually. Worldwide, Land Rover has a presence in around 142 markets, and is expected to sell about 160,000 vehicles in 2004.
