Taiwan will not move ahead for now with proposed passenger car tariff cuts, as the government weighs the risk of disrupting the domestic vehicle supply chain and related jobs. Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun said the policy cannot currently be implemented because the Taiwan-US agreement tied to US-made cars has been rendered invalid.
Global automakers are facing slower market growth, the rapid rise of Chinese carmakers, and sustained EV investment, with Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz under strain in recent years. While German automakers still lead the global auto industry, revenue and profitability have come under broad pressure over the past two years as competition shifts from volume growth to product value and operating efficiency.
Joby Aviation said at the Farnborough International Airshow that it had reached a multi-year exclusive partnership with Virgin Atlantic to launch a UK air taxi service, and added that certification test flights for its S4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft were moving ahead on schedule. The company said it is targeting its first commercial passenger flight by the end of 2026.
Japanese autonomous driving startup Tier IV listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 22 and said it planned to raise capital to expand its self-driving technology ecosystem. The offering came as the company sought to advance its goal of democratizing autonomous driving technology, even after a weaker-than-expected first-day trading debut.
China's blistering pace of new-car launches — expected to average four new vehicles a day in the first half of 2026 — is shifting from a market-winning tactic to a key driver of industry reshuffling and shakeouts, intensifying cutthroat competition in the auto market.
Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group used the San Francisco AI Summit to outline separate artificial intelligence (AI) expansion plans spanning semiconductors, autonomous driving and robotics.
As the global electric vehicle (EV) market enters a growth adjustment phase, the auto industry is shifting from "electrification" toward "intelligence," while AI agents move rapidly from the cloud to end devices. Qualcomm says the end devices with which future AI agents will mainly interact include about 6 billion smartphones, 2 billion AI wearables, 2 billion PCs, and 500 million connected cars, underscoring how vehicles are becoming a key gateway to AI services.
Amnon Shashua will step down as CEO of autonomous driving technology supplier Mobileye once the company appoints a successor, marking the biggest leadership transition since he co-founded the Israeli firm in 1999.
Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are reshaping their growth strategies as the global auto market enters a low-growth era, with profitability under pressure and EV demand slowing. Instead of chasing volume, the three German automakers are focusing on multi-powertrain platforms, deeper AI integration, and cross-border partnerships.
BMW Group has appointed Benjamin Nagel as managing director of BMW Group's importer markets in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, effective Sept. 1, 2026. He will succeed Raymond Tan Chor Ann, who will become managing director and CEO of BMW Group Malaysia.
Volkswagen, the world's second-largest automaker, has expanded production cuts and layoffs, drawing scrutiny to the pressures facing Europe's auto industry.
