Hotai Motor has cut its 2026 Taiwan auto market forecast, signaling softer demand may linger after tariff-related weakness in the first half. The move matters beyond Taiwan because shortages of hybrids, electric vehicles, and US-made models continue to shape availability and pricing for global buyers, automakers, and suppliers.
Taiwan's auto market posted a strong rebound in June 2026, signaling firmer demand in a key Asian economy watched by global carmakers. Registrations rose sharply in the month and year, led by Toyota's steady performance and a surge in Tesla deliveries that reshaped the local ranking.
Gus Technology has named Hota Group president Kuo-jung Shen as chairman after a June 30 shareholders' meeting, underscoring a deeper push into batteries, electric mobility, and energy systems. The move could shape supply chains serving vehicle makers, AI data centers, and industrial users as demand for backup power and high-performance batteries expands globally.
Taiwan's auto industry has begun to recover as recent clarity around US tariff policy eased months of pressure on manufacturers, dealers and aftermarket parts exporters, executives said. The shift, reported in late June, allowed delayed parts imports and new-car assembly schedules to resume, enabling factories and dealers to reconfigure production and prepare for the traditional sales peak in the second half of the year.
Honda Motor has begun producing data-center batteries at an Ohio factory originally built to supply electric vehicles, as automakers and battery suppliers seek new uses for capacity while EV demand cools.
Amid the ongoing AI race between the US and China, industry players in South Korea are now focusing on physical AI as a competitive factor, with manufacturing momentum as a core advantage, according to Park Min-woo, head of Hyundai Motor's Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) division and CEO of 42dot.
BYD plans to install its first in-house smart-driving chip in a Denza production model in 2027, marking a key step in the Chinese automaker's push to extend vertical integration from electrification into intelligent driving.
Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, Haikun, has entered submergence testing and is on track to be handed over to the navy in the second half of 2026, state-owned shipbuilder CSBC Corp. Taiwan said at a shareholders' meeting.
BYD's newly unveiled Xuanji A3 autonomous driving chip may represent a major milestone in the company's semiconductor ambitions, but industry experts say bringing the processor into production vehicles will take considerably longer than its public debut.
China's electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage supply chains are undergoing a profound structural shift. Over the past year, prices of upstream battery materials have continued to rise. According to reports, the sharp increase in lithium battery raw material prices has challenged the market's previous assumptions about industry overcapacity and contradicted the belief that higher prices suppress demand.
CATL is turning sodium-ion batteries from a lithium alternative into a commercial product line, with planned deployment in 10,000 to 20,000 electric vehicles this year and a new sodium energy storage system aimed at global grid markets.
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