07 Blue On Tan Bentley Navigation Heated Seats 19" Wheels 1 Owner Clean Carfax on 2040-cars

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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.

Autoblog Podcast #417

Episode #417 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Brandon Turkus talk about what we're expecting to see at the upcoming 2015 Chicago Auto Show that kicks off on February 12. Of course, the podcast starts with what's in the garage and finishes up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #417 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics 2015 Chicago Auto Show In The Autoblog Garage 2015 Bentley Continental GT Speed 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor Long-Term 2015 Volkswagen GTI Long-Term 2014 Jeep Cherokee Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:25:53 Rundown Intro and Garage – 00:00 Chicago show – 27:37 Q&A – 47:27 Get The Podcast UStream – Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes

2021 Bentley Flying Spur Speed spied undisguised, may be PHEV

The 2020 Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan was just revealed a few months ago, but its high-performance Speed variant should be launching very soon. One of our spy photographers caught what appears to be a Flying Spur Speed completely undisguised. It follows the pattern of past Speed models in terms of style, but it may be powered by a hybrid powertrain, which would be a first for the Speed line. When it comes to the design, the Flying Spur Speed is quite subtle. The body is pretty much untouched except for the black mesh grilles. All the chrome trim has been changed over to gloss black as well, just as previous Speed models have done. At the back, the car now features quad exhaust tips that exit through the oval outlets in the bumper. The exterior also leads us to believe this is a hybrid. Looking closely at the back, you can see the factory fuel filler door nestled in the top of the right rear fender. Looking over to the left rear fender, you can just make out yet another small filler door ahead of the taillight. This door doesn't appear on the regular Flying Spur, so we believe it's an electric charger port door. The question is, what hybrid powertrain could it be using? It's likely not using the V6 hybrid from the Bentayga, since we've established that this is a Flying Spur Speed, but Bentley doesn't have any other plug-in hybrid powertrains at the moment. It's possible it could use a version of the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid V8 powertrain, which makes 677 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque. That would be more power than the regular Flying Spur's W12, if a bit less torque. And of course Bentley could probably tweak it for a bit more power. Then again, maybe Bentley will adapt some hybrid tech to its W12. Whatever the case may be, this should be a very interesting car. And since this is just a high-performance variant that's clearly pretty far in development, we should see it officially revealed soon. It would make sense for it to be launched for the 2021 model year and shown within a year.