Mercury 14563 Driven Gear on 2040-parts.com

Porsche 918 infotainment system to be based on HTML5

While some automakers, like Ford and General Motors, are beginning to open up their code to outside developers via application programming interfaces, Porsche's taking a very interesting route for the 918 Spyder's infotainment system. The the hybrid supercar's dashboard interface uses the same code that the modern Internet runs on: HTML5. Germany's AutoBild reports that Porsche cites the ease of programming as part of their rationale for the system; smartphone integration is another.

Who's Where: Karim Habib joins Mercedes-Benz

Karim Habib, former Team Leader for Advanced Design at BMW, joined Mercedes-Benz earlier this month, becoming Head of Advanced Design at the German automaker's Stuttgart studio. Habib will work under newly appointed Mercedes-Benz Head of Design, Gorden Wagener. Habib, who celebrates his 38th birthday today, was born in Beirut, Lebanon and attended elementary school in Iran, France and Greece before moving to Montreal, Canada in 1982.

45,000 complain about used car buys

USED CARS bought from independent dealers drew the highest number of complaints from disgruntled consumers in the last year, according to new figures. Citizens Advice has called on retailers to display consumer rights information at checkouts after more than half a million people complained about shoddy products worth £3.5 billion in the last year. Figures show 45,000 used car buyers lodged a complaint in the year to February, followed by 12,000 regarding mobile phone contracts and 11,500 about repairs by an independent garage.