World Known Precision Industry (WKPT), a major Taiwanese supplier of commercial vehicle components, has long relied on the US as its largest revenue source. But chairman Kevin Lu now sees Japan emerging as the company's next strategic growth market, driven by a surge in local investment and a rejuvenated commercial vehicle sector.

With the US and China rapidly advancing in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology and aggressively expanding their global footprint, South Korea's auto industry is feeling the pressure and urgently reassessing its competitive edge. For many here, the key battleground is no longer hardware or talent alone, but data sovereignty.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, has announced plans to release its first production vehicle equipped with end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving technology by 2027. The company also aims to launch a fully integrated software-defined vehicle (SDV), powered by artificial intelligence and cloud-based services, by 2028.

The global automotive industry is rapidly pivoting toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs), fueling a parallel surge in demand for large in-car displays. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that displays larger than 10 inches will account for a staggering 81% of automotive display sales by 2027, nearly doubling their market share from 2021.

Rare earth elements—critical to electric vehicles, defense systems, and advanced electronics—are once again at the center of geopolitical tensions. China, which controls more than 90 percent of the world's rare earth refining and processing capacity, continues to wield outsized influence over global supply.