New Delhi:

Ian Cameron, former Rolls-Royce head designer and vintage car expert, was killed at his $3 million mansion in Germany after getting stabbed by a man during a robbery attempt.

The 74-year-old British national was living with his wife Verena Kloos in Germany’s Herrsching at Lake Ammersee during the incident. Ms Kloos escaped the attack by scaling a wall and landing in her neighbour’s house, from where she informed the cops.

The power cables to the garage of Ian Cameron’s house, where valuables were kept, had been purposefully cut off, according to CCTV evidence.

“The investigation suggests that this was a violent crime,” said police officials.

Ian Cameron played a “significant” role in the designing of iconic Rolls-Royce vehicles like the Ghost, Phantom, and 3 Series. 

Ian Cameron undertook the role of leading the Rolls-Royce design team after BMW acquired Rolls-Royce’s automotive business in 1998.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news about our former Rolls-Royce designer. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during these difficult hours,” said BMW in a statement to Automotive News.  

“Ian played a significant role in shaping Rolls-Royce from when it was first acquired by BMW Group and moved to its home at Goodwood, West Sussex. During Ian’s tenure, he led the design team for all Phantom family and Ghost models, creating thoroughly contemporary motor cars that remained sympathetic to the marque’s design lineage,” the automaker added.

The suspect’s height is estimated to be between 180 and 190 cm (5 ft 9 in to 6 ft 2 in). He is wearing light-colored pants, a dark-blue sweatshirt, yellow-green gloves, and a red backpack, according to a description by police officials.

A manhunt has been launched to locate the suspect who is currently on the run. Dogs and a helicopter are helping search teams thoroughly examine the area to catch the murderer.

London, United Kingdom:

Rolls-Royce, the British manufacturer of aircraft engines, said Tuesday it plans to axe up to 2,500 jobs worldwide, or about six percent of its staff.

“It is estimated that 2,000-2,500 roles will be removed globally” under “plans for a simpler, more streamlined, organisation”, the group said in a statement.

Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who began restructuring the group on taking the helm at the start of the year, said the company was “building a Rolls-Royce that is fit for the future.

“That means a more… efficient organisation that will deliver for our customers, partners and shareholders.”

The statement said the latest restructuring would “help Rolls-Royce build enhanced capabilities in key areas such as procurement and supply chain management, ensuring they are as strong as the company’s engineering and technical excellence”.

Previous CEO Warren East had axed more than 9,000 jobs and launched a major divestment programme in 2020 to navigate damaging pandemic fallout across the aviation industry.

In a quick turnaround under its new boss, Rolls in August posted first-half net profit totalling £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion), compared with a loss after tax of £1.6 billion a year earlier.

Erginbilgic, a dual UK and Turkish national, worked for more than 20 years at energy major BP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A teenager in Kerala transformed a Maruti 800 car into a mini Rolls Royce lookalike using his customisation skills. An automobile enthusiast named Hadif said the entire modification cost him Rs 45,000.

In a YouTube video, uploaded by channel ‘Tricks Tube’, the 18-year-old said that he is passionate about cars and likes to make replicas of luxurious cars. He also mentioned that he created the Rolls Royce-inspired logo for his car by himself.

The video has amassed more than 3 lakh views on YouTube. The boy spent several months on the project and has completely redesigned the Maruti 800 with a new body kit. He has tweaked the interiors, changed the front end of the car and replaced it with a new panel featuring a bold, bulkier design, with Rolls Royce-inspired grille and headlights.

Hadif had previously worked on a Jeep project, using a motorcycle engine.

To transform the car, he used metal sheets, welding work, and components from other used cars.

Earlier, a video of a BMW car changing into a ‘Transformer’, just like alien robots from the iconic science fiction Hollywood movie also went viral. It also caught the attention of industrialist Anand Mahindra, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), the Chairman of Mahindra Group informed that the modified vehicle was created in 2016 by a Turkish company named Letvision.