The European Union’s plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 is showing signs of major change. According to a report from The Sunday Times, several senior figures within Europe’s automotive industry have privately confirmed that the EU is considering postponing the ban to 2040. Although the information has yet to receive formal confirmation from the EU, it has already triggered significant shockwaves across European politics and the automotive sector, becoming one of the most closely watched issues in European transport and industrial policy.

"Weekly car news " is a recap of some of the major stories in Taiwan car market last week.

Level 4 autonomous driving has already been achieved by some automakers and activated on specific routes, but mass-market personal adoption is still some distance away. Tensor’s Robocar, promoted as the world’s first personally owned Level 4 autonomous vehicle, raises the question of whether it can redefine the future of the automotive industry in terms of technology, business models, and market positioning.

Market Overview: The total number of new vehicle registrations in November was 36,485 units, representing a 5.7% increase compared with October but a 6.9% decline compared with November last year. Aside from encountering a typhoon, this month did not have any long holiday effects, and the sales performance of major brands showed mixed results compared with October — with some rising and others declining. Mercedes-Benz recorded the highest growth at 26.4%, mainly due to the large arrival and delivery of its core model, the GLC, which reached 536 registrations, marking a 10.5% increase over last month and an 8.7% increase compared with November last year. Among major brands, Ford experienced the most significant decline this month at 7.4%. It is anticipated that once the all-new Territory officially launches and begins deliveries, Ford will regain some sales momentum and return to growth. As of the end of November, the cumulative number of registrations this year reached 367,133 units, a decline of 11.9% compared with last year. Entering the second month of the fourth quarter, many brands introduced promotional offers for older model-year or current model-year vehicles, and models with engine displacement under 2,000cc continued to benefit from the excise tax rebate, helping maintain market demand and bringing slight growth compared with October. Regarding this year’s overall market forecast, we believe there is a chance the annual decline can be kept within 10% compared with last year. However, as existing back-order vehicles gradually finish delivery, next year will still pose considerable challenges for many automakers.

"Weekly car news " is a recap of some of the major stories in Taiwan car market last week.

Taiwan’s transportation environment remains heavily dependent on private cars. Although scooter-sharing and car-sharing services have gradually matured, their operations still rely on significant manpower, including vehicle dispatch, maintenance, and customer service. Recently, Grab announced a USD 60 million investment in the German remote-driving technology company Vay Technology GmbH, acquiring a stake in the company. Grab aims to leverage Vay’s automated and remote-driving technologies to upgrade Southeast Asia’s mobility model, offering valuable insights for Taiwan.

The 2025 Hon Hai Tech Day (HHTD 25) concluded successfully at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. This year’s event surpassed all previous editions in scale and, for the first time, brought together suppliers and partners to jointly showcase achievements—clearly demonstrating Hon Hai’s determination to realize its “Three Smart Platforms” integrated with AI. With over 207 exhibits across six major zones, ranging from smart manufacturing and AI Factory to smart cities and semiconductors, HHTD has become more than a tech exhibition; it has evolved into a key indicator for observing global trends in electric vehicles and the AI industrial chain.

A recent report from Nikkei states that Toyota plans to extend the average sales cycle of its flagship and mainstream models from the current seven years to nine years. This move indicates that one of the world’s largest automakers is recalibrating its product lifecycle strategy and shifting its focus toward electrification and software-defined vehicles. In the past, Toyota typically introduced a full model change roughly every five years. As hardware technology matured in the 2000s, this interval expanded to seven years, and now further to nine. This shift suggests that vehicle value is transitioning from hardware-based upgrades to improvements maintained and enhanced through software updates.

Valeo, one of the world’s leading automotive component suppliers, recently unveiled the latest innovations from its three core business divisions—Power, Light, and Brain. Among its many advancements, five key technologies stood out, spanning cooling systems, vehicle software, sensing, and communication architectures. Together, they illustrate the automotive industry’s transition toward deeper integration between hardware and software.

The Netherlands-based semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia has recently become entangled in multiple political and regulatory crises. Its parent company, Wingtech Technology, was placed on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List at the end of 2024. Subsequently, in September 2025, the U.S. expanded its export control measures, restricting subsidiaries that are more than 50% owned by listed entities from accessing U.S. technologies. Although Nexperia was not directly named, it has nonetheless been affected — with the repercussions rippling across the automotive supply chain.

The European Union’s plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 is showing signs of major change. According to a report from The Sunday Times, several senior figures within Europe’s automotive industry have privately confirmed that the EU is considering postponing the ban to 2040. Although the information has yet to receive formal confirmation from the EU, it has already triggered significant shockwaves across European politics and the automotive sector, becoming one of the most closely watched issues in European transport and industrial policy.

Level 4 autonomous driving has already been achieved by some automakers and activated on specific routes, but mass-market personal adoption is still some distance away. Tensor’s Robocar, promoted as the world’s first personally owned Level 4 autonomous vehicle, raises the question of whether it can redefine the future of the automotive industry in terms of technology, business models, and market positioning.

Taiwan’s transportation environment remains heavily dependent on private cars. Although scooter-sharing and car-sharing services have gradually matured, their operations still rely on significant manpower, including vehicle dispatch, maintenance, and customer service. Recently, Grab announced a USD 60 million investment in the German remote-driving technology company Vay Technology GmbH, acquiring a stake in the company. Grab aims to leverage Vay’s automated and remote-driving technologies to upgrade Southeast Asia’s mobility model, offering valuable insights for Taiwan.

The 2025 Hon Hai Tech Day (HHTD 25) concluded successfully at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. This year’s event surpassed all previous editions in scale and, for the first time, brought together suppliers and partners to jointly showcase achievements—clearly demonstrating Hon Hai’s determination to realize its “Three Smart Platforms” integrated with AI. With over 207 exhibits across six major zones, ranging from smart manufacturing and AI Factory to smart cities and semiconductors, HHTD has become more than a tech exhibition; it has evolved into a key indicator for observing global trends in electric vehicles and the AI industrial chain.