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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.

2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith is everything you need, everything you don't [w/videos]

It's not often that we get to talk about a new Rolls-Royce, what with the fact that the company's current model line is basically made up of two vehicles. But that all changes here at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, with the introduction of what might be the most emotional Roller of modern times, the Wraith.
The new two-door Rolls is effectively a Ghost coupe, and it stands to reason that this is Royce's answer to the Bentley Continental GT, albeit at a higher price point. Much higher, actually - the 245,000-euro - $320k USD - price of entry for the Wraith is about $100,000 more than a Continental GT Speed coupe. Woof. And to our eyes, all that extra money isn't buying you much in the looks department, as the collective opinion of the Autoblog editors on-site in Geneva is that it's more imposing than elegant.
But the Wraith will no doubt be a special, exclusive, impressive machine for anyone who plunks down that sort of cash. For starters, it's powered by a V12 that puts out an impressive 624 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque mated to an eight-speed ZF "Satellite Aided" transmission. This nifty cog-swapper actually works with GPS to not only pre-select the right gear for the portion of road you're on, but for the next portion of you'll be driving on, as well. That, friends, is cool.

Rolls-Royce spotted testing even sportier Wraith

A Rolls-Royce is not what you'd typically consider to be "sporty." Luxurious. Stately. Even powerful, packed as they are with twelve-cylinder engines displacing in excess of six and a half liters. The Wraith set out to change that with a sportier package, more rakish profile and an even more potent version of the Ghost's 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 to make it the fastest and most powerful Rolls-Royce ever made. But now it seems Goodwood is working on an even more aggressive version.
Spotted undergoing testing in parent company BMW's home country of Germany, this particular Wraith might strike you as the same one we've already seen, save for a few telltale details. It may be wearing the same rolling stock as the existing model, with what look like the same tailpipes protruding ever so elegantly around back, but at the bottom of the front bumper and atop the rear trunklid you'll notice more assertive spoilers added on.
To what end, we cannot be certain, but our spotters on the ground seem to think this is a prototype for a more extreme version of the Wraith - possibly inspired by the attention garnered by the Bentley Continental GT3-R. Could we be looking at a Wraith V-Specification like we saw with the Ghost? We'll have to wait to find out for sure, but in the meantime you can scope out the virtually undisguised prototype in the gallery of high-resolution spy shots above.