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.
The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected global and Taiwan's political and economic landscapes. Unlike some industries, the furniture sector did not escape unscathed, facing a squeeze from management and costs. While Taiwan continues to implement a stable, successful outbreak response, the industry has also misjudged the economic downturn duration. The furniture industry has yet to fully recover...
The Taiwanese government has pledged to lead the effort in further developing the sustainable green economy, which is among the sectors highlighted in the Tsai administration's "5+2 Innovative Industries Initiative." Economic Daily News is hosting the "2020 Energy Vision Summit - Green Energy 2.0" on November 11. As one of the government's core policies, improving the island's energy self-suff...
According to Economic Daily News, the 2020 U.S. Business Day is slated to open this Thursday (Oct. 15), citing sources that a total of 18 buyers, including Amazon, will be attending the conference. American firms with backgrounds in electronics, ICT, auto parts, rubber products, and textiles will be attending. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council primarily aggregated Taiwan's attendin...
Foxconn is looking to explore cooperation with European tier 1 auto parts suppliers in developing 3D auto-use curved glass covers. The electronics manufacturer is also reportedly engaging in talks with European auto firms to make curved, one-piece system consoles and dashboards. In a bid to diversify its product line, Foxconn's plans to enter the lucrative auto parts industry began with provid...
Taiwan's auto parts market has seen positive impacts as the Chinese automotive market continues to grow in its sixth consecutive month. Hotai Motors and Yulon Nissan Motor are the two significant firms enjoying the leverage. The island's related industries are benefiting from the strong performance of China's automotive market. Industry members say as long as competitive Taiwanese firms mainta...
Industry experts expect to see challenging times ahead for production in the foundry sector, forecasting that the current situation will not let up in the short-term and warns of unbalanced supply-demand next year. During the pre-pandemic era, IC design firms say clients usually made urgent orders to avoid having to manage inventory. Yet, considering limited foundry production volume, clients ...
Eyes Stake in 5G Industry with Impedance Analyzer 6632 With greater demand for electronics and manufacturers' need for more precise and diverse applications than before, testing equipment that ensures the reliability, safety, and quality of parts are in hot demand. Founded in 1993, Microtest Corp. is a professional maker and developer of high precision and automatic testing and measurement ins...
Insisting that its customers are always a top priority, Ho Shuan Enterprise Co., Ltd.'s R&D team provides the best educational furniture and peripherals, computer tables, and desks to meet all customer requirements. Established in 1986, Ho Shuan has experienced recent sluggish local market performance, but eventually rebounded and came back better than ever. Despite difficulties, the firm neve...
Chyn Fuh Enterprise, founded in 1993, entered the market with the sole aim of offering other OA metal furniture options for customers. Since its inception, Chyn Fuh has focused on designing and producing OA metal furniture, providing various office use products, including file cabinets, storage cabinets, office desks, and different assistive metal products. Chyn Fuh partook in many government ...
■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...
Founded in 1980, Paul Master Auto Parts Co. is headquartered in Taiwan, a professional manufacturer of chassis and engines parts for passenger cars, trucks, and industrial trucks including forklifts. General Manager Terry Liang said the company has its own professional design department, which provides customized products and specifications for global buyers, including automobile steering and...
Taiwan First brakes Technology Co., Ltd.
Sep 04, 2019Nan 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...
As the only hardware and hand tools trade show taking place this year globally, the three-day Taiwan Hardware Show (THS) will soon kick off on 13th October at the Taichung International Exhibition Center. Positive industry outlook for the post COVID-19 era has led to over 370 companies signing up as exhibitors, in a bid to gear up for a long-awaited economic recovery and plan the next strategic m...
Driven by market prospects, domestic and international exhibitors actively prepare International Fastener Show China in Shanghai on November 3-5, 2020. Suffering from global epidemic and quarantine nearly half year, exhibitions are hot and popular in mainland China. Thousands of visitors join and visit the exhibitions with inquiries, and are eager to know new technology. Domestic and inter...
2020 Medical Taiwan is slated to kick off on Oct. 15 to Oct 17 at Nangang Exhibition Hall 2. Aside from events at the show, show organizer Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) is also hosting the “Medical Taiwan Virtual” online edition at the same time due to travel restrictions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual edition will present 200 exhibitors and over 700 medic...
