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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.

Mini pegs its future on crossovers, electric cars, and the Chinese market

Mini shed light on how its range of models will grow during the 2020s. It confirmed the longstanding rumors claiming it will expand its presence in the crossover segment, and it announced plans to launch more electric cars, including some that will be built in China through a joint-venture established with Great Wall Motors. Executives at the BMW-owned firm have approved what they describe as a realignment of the line-up that's primarily built on three pillars: electric technology, crossovers, and China. "Harnessing new target groups and sales markets will be crucially important for the future of Mini," stressed company boss Bernd Korber. As of writing, Mini's only entry into the crossover segment is the Countryman (pictured), which is well into its second generation, and its only electric car is a variant of the two-door Hardtop. It confirmed two more crossovers are in the pipeline. One is described as a being positioned in the small-car segment, and the other is billed as a compact model. The former will exclusively be available with an electric powertrain, while the latter will be offered with internal combustion engines, though some degree of electrification will almost certainly be available. Mini stopped short of providing concrete details about its future high-riders, and we don't know precisely when they'll be unveiled, but an earlier report sketches the outline of a battery-powered crossover that resurrects the Paceman nameplate and that's about as big as the BMW X1. Possibly called Traveler, or Traveller if product planners select the British spelling, the second model will reportedly ride on BMW's CLAR platform, meaning it will be the first Mini equipped with a longitudinally-mounted engine, and the brand's first rear-wheel drive car. Like its parent company, Mini realistically aims to give customers what it calls the power of choice. While electrification will spread across its line-up, it's not planning on phasing out gasoline- or diesel-burning engines in the near future. It pointed out internal combustion technology remains an ideal solution in some markets. Whether current members of the Mini range will be canned during the realignment is a point executives steered clear of. They confirmed the Countryman will sooner or later return for a third generation, but unverified rumors claim the open-top variant of the Hardtop will retire without a successor in February 2024.

This classic electric Mini costs $100,000, but just look at it

We all love the original Mini, so when a British company decided to develop an electric version of it using a restored original body, we took notice. Enter the Swind E Classic Mini. Electric cars are allowed to have a soul, and this one is just as cute as a Mini with a little gas motor. Swind, a UK-based tech and engineering company, didn't just produce a half-baked version of an electric Mini. The powertrain is a bespoke, in-house design developed by the company's own engineers. The body has contemporary corrosion protection to make sure it doesn't rot like an original from the 1960s. Also, new brake and suspension parts ensure it'll feel relatively modern to drive. Don't expect any mind-blowing specs and numbers from the little EV, though. It uses a 24 kWh lithium ion battery pack and the electric motor produces 110 horsepower. Zero to 60 mph is achieved in 9.2 seconds. That's not impressive on today's world, bu is still quicker than this Mini would have been with its original gas engine. Top speed is 80 mph, and range is rated at an impressive 125 miles. That's plenty for this little city runabout — road trips won't be this Mini's job anyway, especially if you have to run it near top speed just to keep up with traffic. Swind says it'll get to a full charge in four hours via its fast charging capability. Weight is kept to only 1,587 pounds, so this will be one of the lightest electric cars on the road. The benefits of modernizing and electrifying the Mini help out in other areas, too. You can check option boxes for an infotainment system with navigation. USB ports come standard, as do heated leather seats. Curiously, air conditioning is an option. If you prefer no power steering, that's possible; performance tuning packs are available, but there's no explanation for what that entails. There's more space in the boot for stuff with the gas tank removed, and weight distribution is improved at a 57/43 split (it was 68/32 originally). Now we move onto the less desirable portion of this Mini: The price. Converted from pounds sterling, this Mini goes for $100,970. You can buy a whole lot of car for that money, or you can have an electric Mini. At least Swind is really building it, unlike the one-off shown by Mini at the NY Auto Show last year. Production is limited to only 100 cars that all come with a one-year unlimited-mile warranty.