BMW 7-Series Designer Karim Habib Lured to Mercedes

First came the unexpected departure of Chris Bangle, and now BMW has lost another designer, this time, to the competition.

BMW designer Karim Habib will be going to work for Mercedes.

Canadian Habib has been lured by Mercedes-Benz to work on its F series designs, a set of concepts that Mercedes is developing as a way to move towards their future design paradigm. F series (with the F standing for future) designs seen thus far include the F400 and the F700.

Habib will be working at Mercedes' design studio on the outskirts of Stuttgart, under the auspices of its new head of design, Gorden Wagener.

At BMW, Habid designed the new BMW 7-series. His recruitment by Mercedes is part of the automaker's plan to bring young talent into its design division to help assure the future of the brand's premium status. The F series is being developed as concepts not for the next generation of vehicles but for the ones after that, for cars that won't see the road for another 10 years.