Taiwan’s auto industry doubles down on AI amid sales slump

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The competition for automotive dominance is no longer about horsepower — it's about computing power. That's the message Taiwan's auto electronics industry delivered Tuesday (April 14) as nearly 900 exhibitors unveiled their latest solutions at Asia's largest mobility trade show, betting that artificial intelligence can rescue an industry battered by declining global sales.

"This is a revolution of industry," said James Huang (黃志芳), chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Taiwan's trade promotion agency. "The entire supply chain is being rewritten. Business models are changing. And that is why mobility is being redefined," he added during his keynote.

The 360° Mobility Mega Shows, which runs through Friday at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, combines three exhibitions: Taipei AMPA, 2MOTORSWORLD, and Autotronics Taipei. Exhibitors are displaying products ranging from traditional auto parts to electric vehicles, autonomous driving systems, hydrogen fuel technology and AI-integrated smart cockpits.

The shift comes as the global auto industry faces crisis. Jerry Lin (林傳凱), chairman and president of JET OPTO, a Taiwanese automotive electronics manufacturer, said the past year has been difficult for most carmakers. "Overall, it's been a very tough year for the automotive industry for 2025 to '26," Lin said. "Most of the carmakers — the sales volumes are down."

Lin said the industry's response has been to double down on artificial intelligence. "Most people are diverting into AI," he said. "And so this year we're also trying to add AI into a lot of our products. So here in the show, we will exhibit a lot of the new products that we have implemented AI into."

Among the products Jet Opto is showcasing is a rear-seat entertainment system that Lin compared to those in premium vehicles. "So this is something that we're developing for the rear seats," Lin said. "So it's basically like the BMW i7. ... You can have a huge screen where you could sit back and enjoy the video."

Jerry Hsu (許介立), vice chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA), stressed the nature of competition in the auto industry is fundamentally changing. "Future competition will no longer be defined just by the horsepower, but by the computing power, the software capability, data, and governance," Hsu said.

The government is backing this transformation with significant funding. Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cynthia Kiang (江文若) said the ministry has allocated NT$46 billion (US$1.46 billion) through a special resilience budget designed to help industries weather global trade disruptions. The funds support AI integration, research and development subsidies, and overseas market expansion.

"Taiwan is not just making components," Kiang said. "We are upgrading — moving toward system integration, even whole-vehicle applications. We continue to upgrade and grow." She noted the island's economy grew 8.6 percent last year, a 15-year high, driven by exports and advanced manufacturing.

Taiwan Firms Target EV Charging Safety
That computing power is also being applied to safety. With electric vehicle charging fires making headlines globally — lithium battery blazes can reach 800°C to 1,000°C (1,472°F to 1,832°F) and prove nearly impossible to extinguish — two Taiwanese firms unveiled an AI-powered charging station that detects fire hazards in eight seconds.

"We have good AI solutions that monitor around the clock — making safety visible," said Huang Chung-ching (黃宗慶), senior director of VIA Technologies' AI Business Development Division. "We detect early warning signs of danger, take immediate action, and prevent disasters before they happen." The system has already been deployed at the island's top 10 chemical plants, Huang said.

Wen Chung-wei (溫崇維), chief executive of Yajin Automotive Electronics (亞勁車電), said the companies are focused on high-risk sites. "Our first target is about three thousand stations — the fast-charging ones," Wen said. These include Tesla Superchargers and electric bus depots across Taiwan.

Hsu said TEEMA is also expanding globally, with plans to establish technology parks in Mexico, Poland, the United States and India to support members' manufacturing and supply chain operations. He told reporters the Mexico project is progressing fastest. The electric vehicle ecosystem is part of the expansion plan, he added.

The transformation Hsu described — from horsepower to computing power — was visible across the exhibition floor. From AI-powered charging stations that detect fires before they start to entertainment systems that turn backseats into home theaters, Taiwan's bet on artificial intelligence is already taking shape. Whether global automakers will buy what Taiwan is building remains the industry's defining question. ◼