Autocar confidential: Mercedes-AMG, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Nissan

Hamilton wants in on Mercedes supercar development

Lewis Hamilton has said he wants to work with Mercedes-AMG on a future version of the GT sports car and joked about calling it the GT LH Edition. “I’ve already told [head of AMG] Tobias [Moers], ‘You’ve got the world champion and all of this F1 tech. Let’s make this work’,” he said.

Read more: Lewis Hamilton on danger, V12s and the Mercedes-AMG GT R, Mercedes-AMG GT R revealed

No special edition Chirons - for now

Sales of the standard Bugatti Chiron are limited to 500 cars, but an insider has said the level of demand from people who laid down expressions of interest in the £1.9 million car prior to seeing it mean that the firm won’t rush to launch special editions. “One-off colour schemes and other special editions proved very popular with the Veyron, but we are not at that stage yet,” said the insider. “People are eager to buy this car and the volume of sales will keep the factory busy for a long time. We don’t need to look too far ahead.”

Read more: 2016 Bugatti Chiron, Why we should celebrate the new Bugatti Chiron

Aston welcomes “complimentary” Ford grilles

Aston Martin Andy Palmer is flattered by Ford’s current look of having an Aston Martin-style front grille. “It’s complimentary,” he said. “They make a million and it still gets recognised as an Aston.”

Read more: 2016 Aston Martin DB11 review, 2016 Ford Mondeo review

No single charger design for UK EVs

Nissan autonomous drive boss Stewart Callegari thinks UK electric car chargers will continue to feature several plug designs, despite pressure from the EU for a standardised EV plug. “Nissan chose its plug type because it enables vehicle-to-grid charging, but the German manufacturers use a different one,” he explained. Callegari said car chargers, like smartphone chargers, don’t need to be closely regulated.

Read more: Nissan Micra to get Propilot autonomous tech 'within 10 years', 2017 Nissan Qashqai autonomous tech previewed in new Serena