2019 Mclaren 570 Spider Convertible 2d on 2040-cars

Auto blog

U.S. issues new tariff threat, this time against British-built cars

WASHINGTON — Britain is the United States' closest ally but their long friendship may be sorely tested as the two countries try to forge a new trade agreement after Britain's exit from the European Union. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday in London that he was optimistic that a bilateral deal with Britain could be reached as soon as this year. But Mnuchin gave up no ground after a second meeting with his UK counterpart, Sajid Javid. Javid has insisted that Britain will proceed with a unilateral digital services tax, despite a U.S. threat to levy retaliatory tariffs on British-made autos. Mnuchin told reporters after Saturday's meeting that such taxes would discriminate against big U.S. tech companies like Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The UK Treasury declined to comment on the private meeting. The divide highlights the challenges ahead as the Trump administration seeks a new bilateral agreement with Britain, part of a broader push to rebalance relations with nearly all its major trading partners. The stakes are high — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pegged the trade deal with United States as a way to ease the pain of breaking with Europe, Britain's largest trade partner. U.S. President Donald Trump, has promised a "massive" trade deal to support Brexit, the product of a populist movement similar to his "America First" agenda. The goodwill and special relationship the two countries have enjoyed for decades may not count for much, experts say. "Trump is not going to be doing Johnson any favors," said Amanda Sloat, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington. "He's not going to give him a trade deal without major concessions." Even before the digital tax issue arose, the Trump administration threatened to tax foreign car imports, which could hit British-made Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, and Honda Civic hatchback cars. Stiff U.S. trade demands include increased access for U.S. farm goods, concessions that will be difficult for Britain's entrenched natural food culture to swallow. The United States also wants Britain to change the way its National Health Service prices drugs and allow in more U.S. pharmaceuticals, which could prove politically unpopular for Johnson's government. Washington's demand that London block Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for national security reasons could also cloud talks.

McLaren's baby P13 coming next year with multiple bodystyles, $160K sticker price

Though you could hardly call it "cheap" by most standards, when McLaren Automotive booted up with the launch of the MP4-12C three years ago, it was, relatively speaking, the most affordable McLaren yet. Cheaper than the original McLaren F1, cheaper than the SLR it made for Mercedes-Benz, and certainly cheaper than any of the racing machinery for which the firm is known. From there, however, things only got more expensive. The 12C Spider arrived with a higher list price than the coupe, the P1 that much more so, and the 650S slots in between the two. As we reported last week, there's a new flagship codenamed P15 in the works that will be less expensive than the P1, but still significantly more than the 12C or 650S. So when will McLaren offer something a little bit more obtainable? That's the next project in the pipeline. Following the internal nomenclature that dubbed the 12C as P11, the 650S as P11M, P1 as P12 and the aforementioned upcoming flagship as P15, the forthcoming "baby McLaren" is known around Woking as the P13. (Which only makes us wonder what the P14 might be, but that's a question for another time.) What we'll be looking at with the P13 (whatever it will be called once it reaches production) is a two-door supercar based on the same carbon Monocell that underpins the rest of the McLaren lineup but will not, contrary to what Car and Driver predicts, be substantially smaller than the 12C. What it will be is cheaper – at least, relatively speaking, that is. In correspondence with Autoblog, McLaren communications chief Wayne Bruce confirms that the P13 will carry a sticker price starting "from around two thirds of what a 12C would cost you today." That would place it around $160,000 (less than what C/D forecasts) and square between the latest Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S or the V10 and V10 Plus versions of the Audi R8. "Guessing that its styling might be influenced by P1's, or indeed a 650S," we're told, "is as obvious as saying it'll have two seats." McLaren also confirms that it "will be offered in more than one bodystyle," which we'd take to mean coupe and convertible versions as are offered on the 12C and 650S, but leaves the door open to all sorts of additional possibilities in the future. We're told not to expect the P13 to debut this year, but given McLaren's cadence of revealing one new model per annum, we'd look forward to seeing it sometime in 2015.

McLaren preparing 650S extreme track-bound versions

McLaren isn't a company used to standing still. It has 182 grand prix victories under its belt, a dozen Formula One titles and some of the most lust-worthy supercars ever made. So we could hardly blame anyone (ourselves included) for impatiently anticipating what the team at Woking has coming next. Of course, McLaren itself is eager to keep its customers focused on the considerable offerings it already has on hand, but speaking to a few key McLaren personalities has given us some clues. The project known internally as P13 is focusing on a rival to the Porsche 911 Turbo and Audi R8. P14 is still a mystery that no one at Woking is willing to talk about at this stage. And P15 is set to slot in between the 650S and P1 once the latter completes its 375-unit production run. But let's not get too caught up with upcoming products before we're done with the latest 650S. As our own Matt Davis will be bringing you shortly in our First Drive report, McLaren has been demonstrating the new 650S to journalists as a prodigious track weapon at the Ascari Race Resort in Spain. But before all is said and done, there will be even more track-focused versions of the 650S to follow. Speaking one-on-one with Autoblog, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed that the new 650S is destined for the racetrack, and in multiple guises at that. First up will be the 650S GT Sprint, which could very well get a different name before it hits the circuit. This track-bound version of the 650S will follow in the footsteps of the 12C GT Sprint, a circuit toy of which McLaren has sold about 25 examples to date. Developed by McLaren's GT racing department, the 12C GT Sprint features updated aerodynamics, suspension and safety equipment, along with a set of Pirelli racing slicks to better suit it for roadcourse use. We'd expect the 650S GT Sprint (or whatever it's ultimately called) to carry over most (if not all) of the same features, plus the upgrades which McLaren Automotive applied to the 12C to transform it into the 650S – including the revised front end and upgraded engine. Flewitt tells us to expect the new Sprint track car to launch later this year. McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt tells us to expect the 650S GT Sprint track car to launch later this year. It won't be until next season, however, that McLaren GT will hit the racing circuit with its new 650S GT3.