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Giles Taylor succeeds Ian Cameron as head of Rolls-Royce design

Back in the day, a Rolls-Royce looked pretty much the same as a Bentley, but with a different grille. Once BMW took over Rolls-Royce, however, it was faced with the challenge of visually separating itself from its former sister brand. And most would agree that it did so pretty well. But its cars have looked pretty much the same ever since. What Rolls-Royce needs, then, is a bit of a design shake-up. And that's just what this latest appointment could bring.
After a baker's dozen years as design director at Rolls-Royce (and twenty years designing for the BMW Group altogether), Ian Cameron is retiring from his post. In his place, Rolls-Royce has named Giles Taylor as its new director of design. In his new capacity, Taylor will report directly to BMW Group chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk, and be responsible for all design matters related to the Rolls-Royce brand and its products.
Taylor was promoted to the role from his previous position as head of exterior design for the marque, a position he's held for barely more than a year. We'll be eagerly watching to see what the veteran British car designer has in store for the future of Rolls-Royce. In the meantime you can read the full announcement below.

BMW wants to expand DriveNow carsharing program to 25 new cities

Daimler's Car2go car-sharing service just announced that it will debut in Rome, its 26th global city. Now, BMW says it wants to expand its own carsharing program to, wait for it, 25 more cities. Coincidence? We think not. BMW is looking to bring its DriveNow carsharing program, with its Mini Coopers and 1 Series, to as many as 15 new cities in Europe as well as 10 in the US, Bloomberg News says, citing comments BMW executive Peter Schwarzenbauer made at the Geneva Motor Show last week. The service is now operational in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Dusseldorf and San Francisco and serves about a quarter-million people. Of course, it's that last city, where DriveNow started operations in August 2012, that's been somewhat problematic. San Francisco has tough guidelines when it comes to where the cars can be parked, with so few public parking areas to choose from. DriveNow charges $39 for membership in San Francisco, then $12 for the first half hour of driving and 32 cents for each additional minute. DriveNow competes directly against Car2go, which charges around $25 to become a member and then 41 cents a minute to rent a Smart ForTwo.

BMW M4 Convertible spied with naked top and trunk

Our trusty spy photographers have been at it again, snagging these first images of the forthcoming BMW M4 Convertible without camouflage on its retractable roof and rear deck. You'll recall that this is not the first time we've seen the followup to the M3 Convertible, but that the last batch of images we had were encumbered by a lot more camouflage - this car is virtually naked by comparison.
Not surprisingly, the M4 looks to share its folding hardtop design with the standard 4 Series droptop, and it should operate in a similar manner as well. It's no surprise, but it looks like BMW is going to try and make the transition from M4 Coupe to M4 Convertible as effortless as previous efforts converting the M3 to an M3 Convertible. That should mean that below the beltline, this car is nearly identical to the coupe we saw in Detroit.
As for the camo'd features on these spy photos, the hood, front fascia, rear fascia, quarter panels, side sills and mirrors have all been shown on the M4 Coupe, and don't really bear mentioning. There's been no word of just where the M4 Convertible will make its debut, although considering the lack of disguise on this car, Geneva seems like a likely destination.