A harsh economic situation swept through the global automotive market in 2018, largely due to slowing market demand and political competition among the world's superpowers, as well as decreasing confidence from consumers, leading to the first decline in five years in the industry. More importantly is how the main markets in China, Europe and North America have already fallen into negative growth. Despite the shrinking market, there are several promising prospects to expect, including exponential growth in electric vehicles and advancing self-driving car technologies.
Due to the shrinking auto markets in both China and the U.S., the sales in the global auto market in 2018 was down by 0.7% to 93.6 million units as other markets were unable to step in. Together with China's stimulus package and on the condition that the country maintains peaceful trade negotiation with the U.S. and other countries, the annual growth rate for 2019 is expected to be at 1%. However, if the trade negotiations between the U.S and China break down, the global auto market would face a difficult recovery between 2019 and 2021.
Not much changes were made to the global auto market distribution, with China still the largest market at 30% and followed by the U.S. with 19%. Together are influential in terms of global influence as both make up half of the world's auto market.
In 2018, the Chinese auto market suffered through a severe economic downturn. Although the government launched tax cuts and auto dealers lowered the price to stimulate consumer spending, both attempts failed to turn the market around.
On the other hand, sales in the U.S auto market were surprisingly steady in 2018, far beyond market prediction. The overall sales were approximately 17.30 million units, surpassing the record for over 17 million units sold in four consecutive years, representing the tenacity of the American auto manufacturing industry. However, with four factors disrupting the market-- increasing car loan interest rates, fewer car rental discount programs from auto plants, the economic cycle of the auto market, and more appealing options among second-hand cars --sales of new vehicles were impacted, prompting concerns of an overall market decline.
Self-Driving Vehicle Trends
Faced with the business opportunity and trends in the global autonomous vehicle industry, governments and industries compete to develop their vision and blueprint of their desired self-driving vehicles.
Industries are focusing on new technologies for better environmental sustainability and to promote the overall protection and safety of consumers. The same is trending in Taiwan's hardware and plumbing sector. Companies and consumers are becoming more and more aware of the long-term impact of pollutive materials on natural resources, and as policies and regulations are changed in other crucial ma...
Japanese automotive brand Toyota's recent announcement of reducing production in March due to chip shortages is another setback for the company, as this would not be its first time scaling back capacity in the past two years. Earlier, Toyota had also announced that the chip shortages had slashed the group's production goals from April to June. However, Economic Daily News points out that Toyot...
Top automotive electronic suppliers and Taiwan's leading R&D center in autonomous technology and testing, Automotive Research and Testing Center (ARTC), collectively announced the formation of the “Automotive AI Imagery Chip and Smart Cockpit Display Module Industry Alliance" on March 18. Representatives from Elan Microelectronics, AU Optronics, Chimei Motor, China Motor, RAC Electric Vehicles...
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said today that in February, the industrial production index was 117.49, with an annual increase of 10.01% due to easing supply chain disruptions and chip shortages. This marks the 25-month consecutive positive growth period, also the second-longest in history. The manufacturing index was 119.76, an annual increase of 10.16%, which set a new high for the same ...
If there's a keyword that can be used to summarize the past two years, it would be “digitalization.” Across different industries, companies and suppliers are seeking ways to tap into the post-COVID market, and the furniture sector is no different. Here are two trends we've identified that would and continue to shape the market in the coming year and more. Going Digital While the typical con...
Memory chip maker Mosel Vitelic Inc. is looking to expand business operations into the automotive market by increasing deliveries to 25% from 20% in 2021. Chairman Rebecca Tang and Vice General Manager Deng Chih-da were present at the investor's conference on Wednesday afternoon. Tang said the company enjoyed a steady growth last year due to the global chip shortage, rounding up total revenue ...
Founded in 1981, Steel Mark is specialized in manufacturing locks and other related hardware. The company's product catalog includes padlocks, motorcycle and bike locks, deadbolt locks, digital door locks, door locks, rim and euro profile cylinders, and concerning hardware and parts. The company currently operates modern manufacturing facilities occupying 3,300 square meters with more than 40...
In the face of an ever-competitive global market and pressured by rising costs, Wire Master Industry believes the best chance of increasing its competitiveness is improving product quality and investing more into R&D. This allows Wire Master to be in a prime position to stake a good position in the market. Wire Master is looking to develop long-term partnerships with similar values and focus on p...
Since the founders' humble beginnings in the 1960s, traveling from his hometown in Chiayi County to urban Taipei City to learn a trade, he has dedicated the eventually-formed Kuang Shin Enterprise to providing quality products. Kuang Shin offers children's desks and chairs, computer chairs, furniture hardware, OA office chair and desks, connected chairs, display shelves, chair bases, and parts...
Taiwan First brakes Technology Co., Ltd.
Mar 04, 2021Nan Hoang Traffic Instrument Co., Ltd is one of the major manufacturers of automobile friction materials in Taiwan and globally. Chairman Austin Cheng has implemented the double-arrow strategy this year - own brand of “YangPo” is adopted to focus on global channels while the “NHC brand focuses on improving market shares in global markets, such as Europe, America, Asia, Australia, and the Middle E...
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the industries' timeline for implementing digital transformation. However, the how's and what's of applying new technologies and improving the added value to existing products and services can be daunting. Three professors from the National Taiwan University College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science founded the startup company "OmniEyes," basi...
■Yang Feng-Chun In a bid to assist manufacturers in Changhua County to expand their market reach overseas against severe competition in the globalized market, Changhua County Government has been an active player in pushing for a makeover and innovation of its local small and medium-sized enterprises. This is done in hopes of establishing stronger connection with international markets. An ex...
The 2022 Smart City and IoT exhibition kicked off on March 22, featuring top Taiwanese brands showcasing related applications in the sector. It is worth noting that in addition to 5G-related extension and other mainstream smart city applications, energy storage has become a highlight at this show, notably, TECO, Far EasTone, and Gogoro all have offered relative solutions. According to statisti...
With the 2022 Smart City Summit & Expo scheduled to kick off on Tuesday at the Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 from March 22 to March 25, and Kaohsiung Exhibition Center from March 24 to 26, exhibitors are quickly rolling out new products for this year, including TECO Group. In the past few years, TECO has exhibited at the show exhibiting the group's subsidiaries, concentrating on AI, IoT, n...
TIMTOS x TMTS 2022, the first international trade show and the first of its kind on the calendar, kicked off this Monday, with Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI) Chairman Larry Wei pointing out that business orders generated from the mega show are expected to hit USD$$1.7 billion (NTD$47 billion). President Tsai said that in the face of the impacts caused by the pandemic, as well ...
