Porsche engineer Rolf Frech named engineering chief at Bentley

The Porsche-ization of luxury-car maker Bentley moved another step forward on Wednesday as Rolf Frech was named as its engineering chief. Frech, who has been Porsche's director of the complete vehicle engineering group for the past decade, replaces Ulrich Eichhorn, who is set to become head of the VDA, the German auto-industry association. Eichhorn, 50, joined Bentley as engineering chief in 2003 from Volkswagen, where he had been in charge of research and development.

Daimler plans to offer a pilot Smart car rental program in Texas

With Smart's U.S. sales continuing to drop dramatically, Daimler AG is launching a pilot program in Austin, Texas, for short-term rental of the micro car. The program, called car2go, would allow registered users to pick up an available Smart, use it for as long as needed, and return it to designated locations in the city.

2013 Peugeot RCZ facelift priced from £21,595

The facelift for the Peugeot RCZ – revealed at the Paris Motor Show – will cost from £21,595 when it arrives in January 2013. The main change for the RCZ is the loss of the old ‘big gob’ Peugeot nose, to be replaced by a much more appealing front that fits in with the rest of Peugeot’s current crop of cars, complete with LED running lights, new grill and headlights and a bigger air intake with chrome bars. As well as the more obvious changes to the exterior, the RCZ gets some minor interior tweaks, with the Sport spec getting auto lights and option of half leather and leather/Alcantara. The GT spec RCZ gets a few more changes including 19″‘Technical’ alloys, interior sports kit, new interior colours, the option of matt black roof arches, new body transfer decals and more alloy choices.