For years, automakers have grappled with an underlying paradox stemming from persistent EV raw-material pressures, as supply chains worldwide have been constrained by a familiar battery-chemistry trade-off: cost-effectiveness versus high-performance density.

Auto components maker Hiroca posted a pre-tax loss of NT$146 million (US$4.57 million) in the first half of 2026, owing to weak demand in China's auto market and a number of one-time factors. However, during its earnings call on October 1, the company stressed that gross margin remained at a healthy 23–24%, and that most losses will be absorbed by the end of 2026, leaving no drag on earnings in 2027.

According to UBS, nearly twice as many China-made automobiles are being shipped to Europe as are being registered there, partly because trucking shortages delay deliveries from ports to dealers. The gap adds a new wrinkle in the battle for Europe between US and Chinese carmakers. Meanwhile, the vote on EU-wide approval of Tesla's supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is unlikely before December 2026. Even as US and Chinese automakers face short-term challenges in their push in Europe, they continue to put ever-intensifying pressure on European automakers.

The Taiwan New Car Assessment Program (TNCAP) on September 30 released its third-quarter ratings, publishing the MG ZS assessment under its second-edition protocol, which gave the model an overall zero-star rating. MG Taiwan responded with a formal statement, saying the model is locally produced, meets Taiwan's vehicle safety inspection standards, and carries a safety inspection certificate along with multiple active and passive safety systems.

Volvo Car Taiwan acting president Eric Lin said on Sept. 30 that Taiwan's economy is improving on the back of the AI boom, but that the wealth gains are unlikely to translate into stronger car sales in the near term. He said the market is expected to stay flat in 2026 and turn more cautious in 2027.

ProLogium, a maker of inorganic lithium ceramic batteries, said construction and infrastructure work at its Dunkirk superfactory in France has started in phases, including power infrastructure and grid connection work, with a target to energize the construction site in early October 2026. The company is also pressing ahead with engineering design, certification of local suppliers in France and Europe, technology localization and talent development.

For years, China's EV makers pursued aggressive energy infrastructure expansion, racing to offer faster charging and denser networks.

Taiwan's Eurocharm Holdings, an OEM automotive and motorcycle parts maker, said at an earnings call on September 29 that leisure vehicles had become its largest product segment, as it expands production capacity in Vietnam and North America to meet rising customer demand. The company reported strong year-over-year growth in revenue and profit for the first half of 2026.

China's auto market is under pressure from high oil prices and shrinking subsidies, weakening domestic sales even as exports keep growing. Taiwanese supply-chain companies are responding by adjusting their product mix.

One of the most pronounced factors behind China's ferocious rise in the global technology landscape has been its unparalleled strength in the EV sector, where fierce competition over power batteries and high-end battery materials has cemented the country's longstanding dominance in battery manufacturing.

Samsung SDI is accelerating its push into the artificial intelligence (AI) data center battery market, unveiling, for the first time, a cylindrical lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery featuring its proprietary structural design at Data Centre World Asia (DCWA) 2026 in Singapore on September 29.