1988 Land Rover Defender County on 2040-cars

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The UK votes for Brexit and it will impact automakers

It's the first morning after the United Kingdom voted for what's become known as Brexit – that is, to leave the European Union and its tariff-free internal market. Now begins a two-year process in which the UK will have to negotiate with the rest of the EU trading bloc, which is its largest export market, about many things. One of them may be tariffs, and that could severely impact any automaker that builds cars in the UK. This doesn't just mean companies that you think of as British, like Mini and Jaguar. Both of those automakers are owned by foreign companies, incidentally. Mini and Rolls-Royce are owned by BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors of India, and Bentley by the VW Group. Many other automakers produce cars in the UK for sale within that country and also export to the EU. Tariffs could damage the profits of each of these companies, and perhaps cause them to shift manufacturing out of the UK, significantly damaging the country's resurgent manufacturing industry. Autonews Europe dug up some interesting numbers on that last point. Nissan, the country's second-largest auto producer, builds 475k or so cars in the UK but the vast majority are sent abroad. Toyota built 190k cars last year in Britain, of which 75 percent went to the EU and just 10 percent were sold in the country. Investors are skittish at the news. The value of the pound sterling has plummeted by 8 percent as of this writing, at one point yesterday reaching levels not seen since 1985. Shares at Tata Motors, which counts Jaguar and Land Rover as bright jewels in its portfolio, were off by nearly 12 percent according to Autonews Europe. So what happens next? No one's terribly sure, although the feeling seems to be that the jilted EU will impost tariffs of up to 10 percent on UK exports. It's likely that the UK will reciprocate, and thus it'll be more expensive to buy a European-made car in the UK. Both situations will likely negatively affect the country, as both production of new cars and sales to UK consumers will both fall. Evercore Automotive Research figures the combined damage will be roughly $9b in lost profits to automakers, and an as-of-yet unquantified impact on auto production jobs. Perhaps the EU's leaders in Brussels will be in a better mood in two years, and the process won't devolve into a trade war. In the immediate wake of the Brexit vote, though, the mood is grim, the EU leadership is angry, and investors are spooked.

Top Gear pits Hennessey VelociRaptor vs. Range Rover Sport SVR

As a television series, Top Gear is in limbo with an intent to return, but no hosts yet. However, it's magazine and website continue to bring us clips like this one. While the video might lack the show's charismatic hosts, this is an opportunity to see a drag race between a Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR with 550 horsepower and a Hennessey VelociRaptor with 623 hp. The duel between these two supercharged V8s definitely sounds great. Both rugged models start at the line growling angrily at each other like dogs ready for a fight. You have to watch the clip to see whether the more powerful VelociRaptor feeds on the SVR, though. News Source: Top Gear via YouTube Ford Land Rover Truck SUV Performance Videos Hennessey ford f-150 svt raptor top gear magazine

Win an electric car and celebrate Earth Day

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability is subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. Enter to win this giveaway or any other Omaze experience now through April 23, 2021 and receive 500 extra entries into any campaign plus a chance to win $10K with code GOGREEN500. Simply add the discount at checkout. Whether you like it or not, there will come a day when most, if not all of us, will be driving electric cars. For some of us that day can't come soon enough, and in honor of Earth Day we've put together a list of our favorite car giveaways so you can save some green while being green.  Win a 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo S and $20,000 - Enter Here If there’s one thing Porsche is good at, itÂ’s making fast, beautiful cars, and the Taycan Turbo S is no exception. Making 750 horsepower, 774 lb-ft of torque and a top speed of 161 miles per hour, punching the accelerator will surely throw you back in your seat. In fact, its 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds matches that of the quickest Porsche 911 ever made, the Turbo S. The difference between this Taycan Turbo S and that 911 Turbo S, of course, is that the only reason youÂ’ll ever need to stop off at a gas station is to fill up on snacks. That and the fact the Taycan doesn't actually have a turbo anywhere in the car. We wouldnÂ’t be reaching for a bag of FlaminÂ’ Hot Cheetos, though, because this incredibly comfortable leather interior is immaculate, and weÂ’d hope to keep it that way. Enter here for a chance to win this prize worth $220,000. Win a Himalaya Land Rover Defender 110 EV and $20,000 - Enter Here The Land Rover Defender is an icon: an intense, luxurious off-roader that turns heads and can crawl up nearly anything. The problem? For the past 20+ years it hasn't been available in the United States and it's never been what youÂ’d call environmentally friendly. But this Defender is different. ItÂ’s vintage, restored by Himalaya and itÂ’s all-electric. At 275 horsepower, you wonÂ’t be thrown back in your seat, but the 406 lb-ft of torque helps make this an incredibly capable rock crawler.