Nick Fry, former managing director of Ford-owned luxury sports car maker Aston Martin, is to spearhead Banbury-based motorsport group Prodrive's expansion into the vehicle engineering consultancy business.

Mr Fry, who is moving from his present job as business director for product development at Ford Europe, will become managing director of Prodrive's automotive technology division.

It now accounts for about a third of the turnover of Prodrive, founded by former rally ace David Richards.

Mr Fry's extensive contacts with vehicle makers and suppliers should help further Prodrive's ambitions to become a major operator in mainstream automotive engineering.