By CARMEN LO The ignition system is one of the key components in a gas-powered engine. It also sets the bar for the overall powertrain performance, especially in terms of horsepower, fuel efficiency and emissions. Developing reliable and high-performance ignition systems is consequently a perennial goal of global automakers. Foremost in this trend is the emergence of advanced computer-controlled...

By JENNY WU Bearings are among the most common and most important of all automobile components, serving vital functions in transmissions, engines, drive-shafts, and other systems and parts. Though individual bearings are relatively small in size, they have a huge relationship to vehicle reliability, safety, and comfort. Bearing manufacturing is one of the industries that have been pinpointe...

By JENNY WU Statistics compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) show that in 2013, automobile production and sales in China were 22.12 million and 21.98 million units, respectively, up 10.2% and 9.6% from the previous year. China's annual new-car sales, CAAM forecasts, are expected to increase another 8% to 10% to about 24 million units in 2014, to make the natio...

Local manufacturers keep years ahead of the pack through innovation Automotive electronics are playing a vital role in the move toward safer, higher-performance, cleaner, smarter, more energy-saving, and connected vehicles. And Taiwan is playing a vital role in the supply of such products. Backed by Taiwan’s world-class electronics and ICT (information and communications technology) industr...

By JENNY WU Along with the rapid advancement of new technologies, automotive electronics--vital to upgrading the powertrain performance, safety, and comfort of modern vehicles--have been drawing intense attention in recent year through the constant development of newer and better products and applications. The automotive-electronics market in China has been enjoying robust growth, reaching ...

By MICHELLE HSU In the burgeoning Chinese auto market, safety has joined worsening air pollution as a focus of major concern. With more and more new cars on the road and more and more novice drivers behind the wheel, traffic accidents are soaring and casualty figures skyrocketing. “How can we bring down the incidence of traffic accidents on our danger-ridden roads?” was the focus of discuss...

Impacted by uncertain economic prospects, sales of new cars in Taiwan dropped 1.9% year-on-year (YoY) in the first half of 2013, with about 182,000 units sold, lower than original expectations by local auto dealers early this year, according to domestic Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC). The top-five auto brands on the island in the first half remained unchanged, including in sequen...

A delegation from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) recently signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in electric vehicles (EVs) with the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers' Association (TTVMA). The signing marks a significant step in cross-strait cooperation in the EV industry. According to Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Ministry of Econo...

The Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), a key transportation-vehicle testing and R&D body in Taiwan, recently signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) with domestic National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), to develop automotive technologies of the future. Dubbed "Vehicle Visionary Technology Strategic Cooperation Plan", the partnership claims to jointly map out investment...

The Yulon Group, Taiwan’s biggest automobile manufacturing conglomerate, recently announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Derways Automobile Co. of Russia for the joint development of the promising Russian market, which has annual sales of about three million units. Yulon said that it has set up a branch office in Russia, with a staff of more than 20 Taiwanese employees, to w...