Tesla CEO Elon Musk paid an unannounced visit to China on April 28. His main goal is reportedly accelerating the rollout of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China. Coincidently, the country said on the same day that vehicles made by Tesla and other carmakers comply with data security requirements.
China has greenlit a US listing by autonomous driving startup Pony.ai, raising the potential for an increase in Chinese tech initial public offerings in New York after a more than two-year hiatus.
Besides launching a new wave of EV price-cut strategies in 2024, Tesla is also undergoing a global mass layoff, highlighting the severe sales challenges Tesla is facing in the Chinese market.
Reducing production costs has been a major task for carmakers as a price war persists in the EV market. According to Nikkei, Honda Motor is trying to produce integrated vehicle bodies with cheaper steel through collaboration with Europe-based steel maker ArcelorMittal.
NXP, one of the world's top five automotive chip IDMs, recently launched the S32 CoreRide open platform for software-defined vehicles (SDV). Supply chain sources said software companies that join the platform account for 70% to 80% of the global automotive firmware and middleware market, which is the product's highlight.
EV manufacturer Tesla saw its first-quarter sales in 2024 fall short of expectations. Recently, it slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscription in the US and Canada in half, dropping the monthly subscription price from US$199 to US$99, according to reports.
Citing costs and productivity, Tesla informed its employees on April 15 that it plans to cut 10% of its workforce worldwide. The news came after Tesla reported a decreased delivery for the first quarter of 2024 amid soft EV demand.
A solid-state battery research project supported by the South Korean government has discovered methods to enhance the stability of solid-state batteries. The discoveries will reportedly promote the development of safer battery systems and the team's results have been published in the online edition of the academic journal ACS Energy Letters.
Chinese tech behemoths are expanding their territories to the automotive sector, stirring the market. Taiwan-based suppliers play a critical part in these companies' car ventures. They have more confidence in Huawei's long-term success compared to Xiaomi.
US autonomous delivery robot startup Kiwibot Company announced on April 2 to acquire Taiwan-headquartered AUTO Mobility Solutions Co. Ltd., a rare strategic move for a startup, not to mention the acquisition is targeted at the semiconductor level.
Two pieces of news regarding smartphone makers-turned-car producers stood out in the first quarter of 2024: Apple reportedly canceled its vehicle project, and Xiaomi rolled out its first EV.
Carmakers worldwide have rolled out vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Taiwan-based III-V semiconductor suppliers said as the adoption of ADAS and autonomous driving technology increases, the automotive LiDAR market will continue to expand and become a new driver for their growth.