"In the future we will have to drive less, more slowly, in lighter and smaller cars, " said Pearce Flannery, CEO of Pragmatica, a leading automotive management consultancy firm. As research continues into trying to find a substitute for petrol as oil supplies dwindle, Flannery criticised the development of biofuels, which use plants as an alternative source of energy.

"Biofuels are likely to prove to be a cruel hoax for the motor industry, " he said. "These crops will be needed in such huge quantities to fulfil future fuel needs that they will take up essential arable lands, leading to increased starvation."

The future, he says, lies in developing hydrogen, the most common element on earth.