After pouring the beans who was in talks with Apple over his rumored Apple Car, Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia have said they are not in talks with Apple.
“Our company is not proceeding in talks with Apple about the development of autonomous driving vehicles,” Nikkei Asia Hyundai and Kia report in separate newspapers. “Our company is receiving applications from several companies to jointly develop EV autonomous vehicles, but nothing has been decided yet, as it is in an early stage.”
In accordance with Bloomberg, Hyundai’s latest statement is similar to the one it issued a month ago after it leaked to the media that it was in talks with Apple. A pair of hours later, Hyundai was furious to say that it was in talks with numerous potential partners. Both Hyundai and Kia shares fell 6.21% and 15%, respectively, in Seoul after today’s news.
This isn’t exactly a surprising end to the back and forth between Hyundai and Apple last month. While we can’t know for sure, Apple is a notoriously company obsessed with secrecy, and the Hyundai gaffe was unlikely to please Apple executives with tight lips. In late January, it was also reported that Hyundai executives were beginning to have according to doubts about the possible partnership, citing the concern it would leave Apple with all the glory while Hyundai did the job of making the car. At the same time, it was reported that the chassis of the Apple Car would be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. Last week, CNBC reported that Hyundai was very close to sealing an agreement with Apple, with the Kia factory in Georgia that would manufacture the Apple car. But that was all before Last Friday leaked news that allegedly Apple pause conversations with Hyundai and Kia.
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Apple may be glad of all the rumors flying left and right about the Apple Car and is waiting for the talk and media interest to end. After all, the fact that Apple has become interested in car technology is Silicon Valley is the worst preserved secret. There have been periodic leaks, rumors and speculation in the tech media since the project was quietly launched in 2015.
Of course, the fact that it has not worked with Hyundai does not mean that this is the last we know of the Apple Car. Nikkei reported last week that Apple was in talks with at least six Japanese carmakers. And, if the last month is an indication, we’re in years of Apple Car rumors until it finally launches. How long will it take? Well, although some have said that Apple is planning to launch in 2024, reliable forecasts from Apple have warned the chronology is a bit ambitious. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the first we would see an Apple Car is in 2025, with a much more likely 2028 or later release. Meanwhile, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg quoted Unnamed Apple sources say the project will take at least five to seven years. So gird people, it will be a long journey.