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2026 R&D investment Plan Prioritizes Smart Ag
Akihiro Komuro South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs 2026 research and development investment plan for the agricultural sector reveals a policy to allocate budget resources primarily to the “smart agriculture” field, centered on robots, drones, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The plan aims to address structural challenges in Korean agriculture, such as an aging population and severe labor shortages, while achieving increased productivity and labor savings.
A key feature of the plan is its emphasis on developing field-implementable technologies, such as autonomous agricultural machinery, data analysis for precision farming, and unmanned pest control drones. The plan also envisions advancing the sophistication of agricultural management through the development of standalone technologies, and by establishing data integration platforms and agricultural ecosystems.
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2025-Year Motorcycle Sales Rank 2nd in SE Asia
Akihiro Komuro In 2025, the Vietnamese motorcycle market experienced strong growth, with sales increasing by 14.9% year-on-year to approximately 3.4 million units. This made it the second-largest market in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. Indonesia maintained its top position as the region’s largest market with 6.55 million units sold, though its growth rate was limited to 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Philippines recorded 2.37 million units (+2.8% year-over-year), Thailand recorded 1.73 million units (+9.8% year-over-year), and Malaysia recorded 613,893 units (+3.5% year-over-year).
In Vietnam, the rapid expansion of electric motorcycles is reshaping the market structure. Alongside domestic companies, Chinese firms are accelerating investment in electric motorcycles, aided by stricter environmental regulations. Hanoi’s plan to restrict internal combustion engine vehicles starting in mid-2026 is further accelerating the shift towards electric vehicles.
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India–Indonesia Auto Relationship Gains Strength
Aditya Kondejkar The evolving automotive relationship between India and Indonesia is increasingly defined by structured, government-linked procurement and industrial collaboration rather than routine export activity. Recent transactions involving Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Ashok Leyland signal a measurable expansion of India’s commercial vehicle footprint in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Indonesia’s infrastructure expansion, rural logistics formalization, and cooperative-based distribution programs have generated concentrated demand for light and medium commercial vehicles. Unlike fragmented retail-driven sales, these programs are characterized by bulk institutional procurement, creating predictable order pipelines and scale efficiencies for suppliers. Indian manufacturers, with established competencies in cost-optimized, durable vehicle platforms suited to emerging market operating conditions, have been able to secure sizeable allocations.
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Boot 2026 Shows Shift To Outboard Power
Natasa Mulahalilovic Boot Düsseldorf 2026 welcomed more than 200,000 visitors over nine days (Jan. 17-25) and hosted about 1,500 exhibitors from 120 countries. The show was about the same size as that of the 2025 event, but last year’s show drew exhibitors from only about 67 countries.
Boot once again confirmed its position as the world’s leading indoor boat show. The event covered the entire spectrum of the marine industry, including motorboats, yachts and superyachts, catamarans, sailing boats, outboard and electric boats, engines, power generation systems, equipment and components, as well as touristic services, charter companies, and boating clubs.
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Alternative Power Report, January 2026
Download PDFIn the January 2026 issue of the Alternative Power Report produced by Power Systems Research and authored by Guy Youngs, you’ll find articles on Tesla’s very weak 2025 sales in Europe, CATL’s winning position in the shipping electrification race, CATL’s upgrade to its sodium-ion battery, and the possibility that China is running out of critical battery materials. Read these articles and more in the January Alternative Power Report today. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
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PowerTALK™, January 2026
Download PDFIn the January 2026 issue of PowerTALK News you can read articles about Tesla’s poor 2025 European sales, CATL’s shipping electrification, the 2026 North American truck production forecast, Brazilian vehicle growth, growing construction equipment demand in Indonesia, Canada’s reduction of tariffs on Chinese EVs, India’s growing two-wheel market, and more.
IN THIS ISSUE
ALTERNATIVE POWER REPORT
- Tesla’s 2025 Europe Sales Plummet
- Sodium-Ion Battery Cell Cost Could Drop
- CATL Winning Shipping Electrification Race
DATAPOINT: 202 Dumper/Tender NA Production
NORTH AMERICA REPORT: 2026 Growth of 4.9% Seen in Truck Production
SOUTH AMERICA REPORT:- Brazil Government Program To Help Truck Industry
- Brazilian Vehicle Market Projected To Grow 3%
JAPAN REPORT: Marine Hydrogen Engine Project Targeted for 2028
SOUTH KOREA REPORT: 2025 EV Motorcycle Promotion Project Continues
INDONESIA REPORT: Construction Machinery Demand Growth Seen
CHINA REPORT: Canada Reduces Tariff on Chinese EVs
INDIA REPORT: Two-Wheel Market Drivers Identified -
Tesla’s 2025 Europe Data Shows Total Bloodbath
Guy Youngs The data is in for Tesla’s full year 2025 in Europe, and frankly, it’s a bloodbath across most major markets. Every market in Europe showed a substantial decline (ranging from -4.1% to -66.9%). There’s a single exception, Norway, and Tesla can’t even count on this market in 2026 because the growth in Norway was caused by changing regulations for 2026, that brought forward car purchases into the last two month of 2025.
According to registration data compiled from major European markets, Tesla saw its total volume drop from roughly 326,000 units in 2024 to just over 235,000 in 2025. That is a staggering 27.8% year-over-year decline
The truth is that this is an impressive demand cliff by any standard that points to significant brand problems, which are due to a mix of Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, becoming highly toxic, and Tesla’s EV lineup becoming stale amid tougher competition.
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