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Stellantis tells UK: Change Brexit deal or watch car plants close

LONDON - British car plants will close with the loss of thousands of jobs unless the Brexit deal is swiftly renegotiated, Stellantis has told the UK parliament, the latest in a series of warnings from the industry since the country left the European Union. The world's No. 3 carmaker by sales and owner of 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat said that under the current deal it would face tariffs when exporting electric vans to Europe from next year, when tougher post-Brexit rules come into force. "If the cost of EV (electric vehicle) manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close," Stellantis said in a submission to a House of Commons committee examining the prospects for Britain's EV industry. Stellantis urged the government to reach an agreement with the European Union about extending the current rules on the sourcing of parts until 2027 instead of the planned 2024 change. In response, a government spokesperson said the business secretary had raised the issue with the EU. "Watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure that the UK gets EV and manufacturing capacity," Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday at a British Chambers of Commerce event. The potentially existential problem facing Britain's car industry is closely tied to the shift to EVs. Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45% of the value of an EV being sold in the European Union must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs. The problem is that a battery pack can account for up to half a new EV's cost. Batteries are also heavy and expensive to move long distances. Experts have been warning since Britain left the EU at the end of 2020 that the country would need a number of EV battery gigafactories or potentially lose a hefty chunk of its car industry. Only Japan's Nissan has a small EV battery plant in Sunderland, with a second one on the way. Cost of failure Britishvolt, a startup which received UK government support for an ambitious 3.8 billion pound ($4.80 billion) battery plant at a site in northern England, filed for administration in January after struggling to raise funds. The company was then bought by Australia's Recharge Industries, which has yet to unveil plans for the site.

Alfa Romeo teases million-dollar supercar debut for August 30

The long-rumored and limited-edition Alfa Romeo supercar will see its debut August 30. The brand teased an intake grille on Twitter with the line, "The courage to dream. It’s time to seize a game-changing moment with more passion than ever. Be prepared to enter the dream." We're also informed that the happening will be livestreamed from the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Italy. The location was foreshadowed by brand CEO Philippe Imparato in February, when he said, "We are working on something that I could put aside the 8C in the museum of Arese, being proud of our contribution to the history of Alfa Romeo. That is what we want." August 30th: “Il coraggio di sognare”. ItÂ’s time to seize a game-changing moment with more passion than ever. Be prepared to enter the dream. pic.twitter.com/3hQjs4xBtQ — Alfa Romeo (@alfa_romeo) July 4, 2023 Reports say the something could be called either the 33, a call to the original Tipo 33 race car and Stradale of 1967. Both versions of the T33 are legendary in the brand's history, although both were powered by the 2.0-liter V8 in the competition variant. The 6C name that's been bandied for years would recall six-cylinder Alfas from the late 1920s to the early 1950s, and slot between the here-and-gone 8C Competizione supercar and 4C sports car.       This new beast will be a V6, that much we know. Reporting agrees that the Maserati MC20 Cielo roadster will provide the bones. Maserati's flagship is built on a carbon tub sprouting front and rear aluminum subframes, same as the 4C's construction, the Maserati built in the same Modena facility as the retired 4C. The Alfa Romeo-branded Formula 1 team might be contributing chassis tweaking suggestions; the supercar reveal happens the same weekend as the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, making for a natural crossover showcase. Sources differ on the engine. Some believe the entire MC20 Cielo package makes the jump, including the twin-turbo 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 making 621 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. It's said engineers will add at least one electric motor to bump output to around 800 hp. Others believe it'll be the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 from the Giulia Quadrifoglio, tuned up to 539 hp and 443 lb-ft in the limited-edition GTAm. Production and price guesses are all over the map. Autocar says only 33 examples are coming out of Modena.

Autoblog's Editors' Picks: Our complete list of the best new vehicles

It's not easy to earn an “EditorsÂ’ Picks” at Autoblog as part of the rating and review process that every new vehicle goes through. Our editors have been at it a long time, which means weÂ’ve driven and reviewed virtually every new car you can go buy on the dealer lot. There are disagreements, of course, and all vehicles have their strengths and weaknesses, but this list features what we think are the best new vehicles chosen by Autoblog editors. We started this formal review process back in 2018, so there's quite of few of them now. So what does it mean to be an EditorsÂ’ Pick? In short, it means itÂ’s a car that we can highly recommend purchasing. There may be one, multiple, or even zero vehicles in any given segment that we give the green light to. What really matters is that itÂ’s a vehicle that weÂ’d tell a friend or family member to go buy if theyÂ’re considering it, because itÂ’s a very good car. The best way to use this list is is with the navigation links below. Click on a segment, and you'll quickly arrive at the top rated pickup truck or SUV, for example. Use the back button to return to these links and search in another segment, like sedans. If youÂ’ve been keeping up with our monthly series of the latest vehicles to earn EditorsÂ’ Pick status, youÂ’re likely going to be familiar with this list already. If not, welcome to the complete list that weÂ’ll be keeping updated as vehicles enter (and others perhaps exit) the good graces of our editorial team. We rate a new car — giving it a numerical score out of 10 — every time thereÂ’s a significant refresh or if it happens to be an all-new model. Any given vehicle may be impressive on a first drive, but we wait until itÂ’s in the hands of our editors to put it through the same type of testing as every other vehicle that rolls through our test fleet before giving it the EditorsÂ’ Pick badge. This ensures consistency and allows more voices to be heard on each individual model. And just so you donÂ’t think weÂ’ve skipped trims or variants of a model, we hand out the EditorsÂ’ Pick based on the overarching model to keep things consistent. So, when you read that the 3 Series is an EditorsÂ’ Pick, yes, that includes the 330i to the M3 and all the variants in between. If thereÂ’s a particular version of that car we vehemently disagree with, we make sure to call that out.