New Mercedes S 63 AMG costs from £119,565

New Mercedes S 63 AMG (pictured) costs from £119,565 The arrival of the new Mercedes S-Class in May saw MB move their range topper on properly for the first time in almost a decade, but with UK prices staring from £62,650 for the S 350 BlueTEC it wasn’t going to be on most people’s shopping list. And if you can’t afford Mercedes’ entry-level S-Class there’s no hope of affording the new S63 AMG, which Mercedes has revealed will cost an eye-watering £120k when it arrives in the UK in November. To be entirely fair, the new S63 is an awesome car with immense performance (which would be even more impressive if Mercedes endowed it with 4WD, as they do in other markets) with its 5.5 litre bi-turbo V8 developing 577bhp and getting the S63 to 62mph in 4.4 seconds.

Renaultsport Megane (2011) Nurburgring teaser video

Renaultsport have released a teaser video, showing its development team preparing a new Renaultsport Megane for track-testing at the Nurburgring. Under the title 'Save the date: June 17', the video shows a previous-generation Renaultsport Megane R26.R in addition to the track-focused, luridly-painted current Megane. Renaultsport is believed to be preparing a harder-edged, more powerful RS Megane, to sit above the current RS250 Cup model. The current car is no slouch, winning general acclaim from CAR when it was included in our PCOTY 2011 convoy through France. But it looks like the fast Renault wizards from Dieppe have decided to send their latest car to the Nurburgring in order to attract the attention of the trackday brigade.  

Marc Girard appointed head of Interior Design at BMW Cars

Marc Girard starts his new job as head of the Interior Design department at BMW Automobiles today, taking over the post previously held by Michael Ninic who died unexpectedly last year. His appointment also alleviates some of the pressure put on Adrian van Hooydonk, who has effectively been managing both exterior and interior design departments for BMW Cars as well as acclimatizing to his new role as design director of the BMW Group following Chris Bangle's departure last month. A BMW Group designer for the last 15 years, French-born Girard was most recently team leader for Interior Design at BMW Automobiles, having been promoted from the position of head of interior design at MINI - a role he filled from 2004 to 2006.