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BMW shuffles chairs in its design department

BMW Group has made some changes to its design team since August 1, and has shuffled top personnel to different positions at BMW Design, Mini Design and Rolls-Royce.
The BMW Design team led by Karim Habib (middle, right) gains a new head of Exterior Design in Domagoj Dukec (right), who has worked for the exterior design team since 2010 and shaped the Concept Active Tourer.
Oliver Heilmer (left), who has worked for BMW's interior design unit since 2000 and designed the 5 Series interior, replaces Marc Girard as head of Interior Design BMW Automobiles. Marc Girard goes to manage BMW's subsidiary design group, BMW DesignworksUSA.

Rolls-Royce Ghost counts 1001 Nights back to the 1970s

A Rolls-Royce should remind you of a golden age of motoring – cruising around the British Isles with a giant hood ornament pointing the way forward is, in some circles at least, the epitome of class. This latest special edition, however, revives another time and place altogether... one nowhere near as classy. The Rolls-Royce Ghost 1001 Nights edition takes its inspiration from the classic Middle Eastern tome, and throws in some unfortunate 1970s style for good measure. It's done up in a two-tone brown and orange exterior color scheme, for some reason unbeknownst to us, with hand-painted coach lines and Arabian-themed motifs inside and out. The Middle Eastern cues are one thing... the paint job, on the other hand, reminds us of an age when Goodwood was producing ostentatious boxes in questionable color schemes, powered by 6.75-liter V8s mated to three-speed automatic transmissions and producing power that Rolls-Royce referred to as "adequate." Of course, nobody is forcing anyone to buy this unfortunately customized Ghost. The company's Bespoke division will set one up for any paying customer just the way he or she desires. Just why anyone would desire this particular configuration, however, is beyond us. Still, we doubt the ultra-luxe automaker will have much trouble selling however many of them it produces at whatever price point it determines – such is the apparent demand for Rolls-Royces in the Persian Gulf region. After North America, the Middle East is the company's largest market. Last year the dealership in Abu Dhabi sold more units than any of the other 126 showrooms around the world. And that's not even including the other dealers in nearby Dubai and Sharjah (both in the UAE), plus additional showrooms in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and three more in Saudi Arabia – all carving up one of the most lucrative markets in the world. It only keeps growing, and Rolls-Royce reports that every last one it sells in the region has been customized by the Bespoke division. Related Video:

Grey Poupon to air new version of famous Rolls-Royce ad, this time with car chase [w/video]

Grey Poupon mustard will revive the concept behind its famous Pardon Me commercials with a new ad that will air only once on television during this Sunday's broadcast of the Academy Awards.
The original spot, which showed two one-percenters sharing the condiment between their Rolls-Royces at an intersection, first aired all the way back in 1981, and variations of it continued up through 1997. Kraft, owner of the Grey Poupon brand, is hoping that reviving the commercial will boost sagging sales and raise the mustard's profile with a younger generation of fancy folk.
So why are we talking about this on Autoblog? Because the new version of the ad won't end with a polite passing of the bottle. Rather, we're told a car chase ensues when the Grey Poupon's owner doesn't get it back. We're assuming the two cars in question will again be a pair of Rolls-Royce sedans, probably Phantoms unless they go with more vintage model years.