在全球汽車產業加速轉型之際，日本兩大車廠Honda與Nissan的命運，正上演一場戲劇性的反轉。短短一年之間，原本財務穩健、氣勢強勁的Honda，因為押注電動車策略失誤而深陷虧損泥淖；反觀曾經陷入經營低谷的Nissan，則透過激進改革逐步止血，甚至開始展現復甦曙光。

在汽車產業邁向電動化與數位化的過程中，OTA (Over-the-Air)無線軟體更新逐漸成為新世代車輛的重要核心能力。這項技術最早由電動車品牌Tesla大規模導入並建立市場認知，隨後包括BMW、Mercedes-Benz、Volkswagen等傳統車廠也紛紛跟進，而我國自主品牌Luxgen也在新世代純電動車n⁷問世後加入。當汽車開始像智慧型手機一樣能透過網路更新軟體，整個產業的產品設計邏輯、售後服務模式與商業結構也隨之產生深刻改變。

On February 13, the Executive Yuan officially announced the signing of the “Taiwan–U.S. Reciprocal Trade Agreement” (Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, ART) with the United States. Among the numerous industrial provisions, the most market-disruptive measure is the reduction of import tariffs on “U.S.-manufactured passenger vehicles” from 17.5% to 0%, alongside the removal of import quota restrictions for models compliant with FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards). Several trade and economic scholars have described this move as a pivotal policy “capable of reshaping the structure of Taiwan’s automotive market.” It will not only redefine the competitive landscape of the luxury segment, but also exert long-term effects on the domestic manufacturing system and the broader consumer market ecosystem.

Tesla, long known for maintaining strong profitability in the electric vehicle industry, saw its performance slip for the first time in 2025. Fourth-quarter deliveries and adjusted profit are expected to decline year-on-year by 3.6% and as much as 40%, respectively. Clearly, Tesla’s EV business is facing mounting pressure from intensifying competition and ongoing brand controversies. Investors, meanwhile, are increasingly focused on whether CEO Elon Musk’s long-promised vision for autonomous driving and artificial intelligence is finally beginning to translate into tangible, verifiable commercial results. This expectation stands in stark contrast to the strain currently weighing on Tesla’s core EV operations.

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.

Gartner recently released its 2025 Digital Automaker Index, revealing that legacy automakers such as Renault, Jaguar Land Rover, and Ford continue to fall behind in software capabilities, struggling to catch up with “digital native” brands such as Tesla, Nio, and Xiaomi. Gartner refers to automakers with leading software strength as “new incumbents.” These companies improved their combined score across eight software-focused criteria from 60.6% in 2024 to 61.6% in 2025. In contrast, the score for traditional automakers fell to 33.8% this year, down from 34.1% last year.

As the global automotive industry faces the dual challenges of electrification and pricing pressure, two major automakers—General Motors (GM) from the U.S. and Hyundai from South Korea—have announced an expanded partnership. Together, they will co-develop five new vehicle models, covering both internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs). The collaboration will also extend to shared resources in the supply chain and manufacturing processes, aiming to directly compete with the rising wave of new Chinese automakers in global markets.