Mercedes-Benz hires BMW designer

Seems like the Mercedes-Benz design department is bulking up on new talent. Karim Habib, the exterior designer of the new BMW 7-series, has been lured to Mercedes-Benz where he will head up the advanced design studio on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Germany. Habib will work under Mercedes-Benz's new design boss, Gorden Wagener.

CAP call on Renault to include battery in Zoe price – when it would cost £25k

CAP has called on Renault to include the battery cost in the list price of the Renault Zoe EV, otherwise it won’t be able to set residual values. We reported recently on the price of the Renault Zoe EV – which starts at £18k – and were surprised to find that Renault weren’t including battery costs in the purchase price but charging and extra £70-93 a month for leasing them. That leads to a completely misleading headline price for the Zoe and, as used car price experts CAP say, is akin to Ford removing the engine costs from their cars to reduce list price.

Red Bull one-two in German Grand Prix

Mark Webber achieved his first F1 win in the Red Bull at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring Red Bull driver Mark Webber took pole position for the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring this weekend and, despite a hiccup at the start, managed to translate that in to a double – his first pole and first win in F1. Webber was quick off the line at the start, but got tangled up with Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn. That altercation cost Webber a 10 second drive-through penalty.