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Trump reportedly says he wants to wipe German cars off the U.S. map

BERLIN/FRANKFURT — A report that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz rolling down New York's Fifth Avenue dented shares in the luxury car manufacturers on Thursday. An excerpt from German magazine Wirtschaftswoche's article, which cited several unnamed European and U.S. diplomats but did not include any direct quotes, could not be independently verified, while a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin referred questions to Washington. The news and current affairs magazine said Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he aimed to push German carmakers out of the United States altogether. Macron's administration in Paris declined to comment on the report. The Trump administration last week opened a so-called Section 232 trade investigation into vehicle imports, which could result in a 25 percent tariff on cars on the same "national security" grounds Washington used to impose metals duties in March. This could destroy exports by German carmakers, which control 90 percent of the U.S. premium market and are the biggest European Union exporters of cars to the United States. BMW owns Rolls-Royce, while Daimler has Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen controls Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Audi. Daimler, BMW and Audi declined comment. Porsche was not immediately available for comment. BMW shares were trading 0.5 percent lower at 0939 GMT, while Daimler and VW's shares were down 1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, underperforming Germany's blue-chip DAX. Trump has railed against German carmakers before. And in early 2017, in an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said he would impose 35 percent tariffs on imported cars. At the time, the president called Germany a great car producer but said that the business relationship with the United States was an unfair one-way street. Germany's auto industry association VDA says its members exported 657,000 vehicles to North America last year, with total exports of vehicle components, cars, engines, as well as second-hand vehicles totaling 31.2 billion euros in 2016. Imports from the United States to Germany amounted to 7.4 billion euros, meaning a trade deficit of 23.8 billion euros the VDA's latest available figures show. However, German brands also have huge factories in the United States, where they built 804,000 cars last year, VDA said, providing jobs for U.S. workers. Berlin has reacted angrily to the U.S.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire is absolute elegance and the most expensive new car ever

Cars like these are why we love the Geneva Motor Show. Sure, only one lucky person will get to own this bespoke Bugatti, but man is it cool to know this is out there somewhere. It's called the Bugatti La Voiture Noire, which literally translates to, Bugatti The Black Car. A certain elegance is lost when we move to English, so let's just keep calling it La Voiture Noire. Bugatti built this one-off car as a tribute to the Type 57 SC Atlantic, of which four were built between 1936 and 1938. If you spend any time at the various concours d'elegance around the world, there's a chance you may have seen one before. Three of the four are known to still be around, and this new car pays homage to Jean Bugatti's black car specifically. Right off the bat, it's easy to see this car is based on the Chiron. Bugatti plopped the Chiron W16 engine in there with all four turbos attached. It makes the exact same power as the new French speed machine with 1,479 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. The biggest difference that we can ascertain is in the number of tailpipes. A stunning six pipes poke out between winglets in the diffuser as a tribute to the Type 57 SC Atlantic, which also featured six. The visual difference here is in the piping size and placement — the original, thin pipes from the 1930s are far classier than the massive roundels fitted on La Voiture Noire. That said, this design is still unbelievably cool, and we applaud Bugatti for going for it. Bugatti didn't quote a top speed for this bespoke car, but we imagine it can't be too far off the mark from the Chiron with the amount of power it's packing. The only glimpse into the driving character comes in this statement: "This is a coupe with the comfort of a luxury limousine and the power of a hyper sports car." Maybe the individual who bought the car was looking for a faster and more comfortable way to get to their cottage on the weekend? We can only guess, as Bugatti hasn't revealed the buyer's name. But one guess is Dr. Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and ex-chairman of the Volkswagen Group. Design-wise, La Voiture Noire tries its best to take cues from the 57 SC Atlantic. You'll notice a less pronounced dorsal fin running from the front of the car all the way back in an effort to match. The windshield flows seamlessly into the windows and back to the sides like a visor on a helmet.

Bugatti shows how its Vision Gran Turismo became reality

Plenty of automakers have taken part in the Vision Gran Turismo program. But few have foretold the future quite as clearly or as enticingly as Bugatti's. And now it's showing us what went into the process of creating the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo. Unveiled last month at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Molsheim's creation isn't just a stand-alone design that exists only in cyber-space. Even if it isn't actually drivable, the Alsatian automaker is one of just a handful of participating automakers that actually built its design into a full-scale mockup, all curves, sinew, aggressive aero, and purposeful intent done up in French Racing Blue. The concept shows us what the successor to the legendary Veyron could look like. Picture it without all the racetrack-specific appendages - from the proliferate winglets to the various decals - and this could be what the hypercar tipped to be called Chiron will look like. And it looks a lot meaner than the rounded-off Veyron ever did. Related Video: