Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving unit, has pulled ahead in the robotaxi race, reporting a fivefold surge in rides over the past year to 250,000 paid trips per week as of April. However, as Tesla prepares its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo now faces pressure to scale faster and reduce costs, beginning with how its vehicles are manufactured.

World Known Precision Industry (WKPT), a major Taiwanese supplier of commercial vehicle components, has long relied on the US as its largest revenue source. But chairman Kevin Lu now sees Japan emerging as the company's next strategic growth market, driven by a surge in local investment and a rejuvenated commercial vehicle sector.

With the US and China rapidly advancing in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology and aggressively expanding their global footprint, South Korea's auto industry is feeling the pressure and urgently reassessing its competitive edge. For many here, the key battleground is no longer hardware or talent alone, but data sovereignty.