Hyundai and Kia Now Say They Aren't in Discussions to Develop Apple Car

[MacRumors]

Following weeks of rampant Apple Car rumors, Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia today said they are not (or at least no longer) in discussions with Apple to co-operate on development of a self-driving electric vehicle, according to Bloomberg.

Hyundai last month confirmed that Apple was in discussions with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai. However, the automaker walked back the statement just hours later, and merely said that it had "received requests for potential cooperation from various companies regarding development of autonomous EVs."

Bloomberg on Friday reported that talks between Apple and Hyundai had "paused recently," adding that Hyundai's original statement and the subsequent reports "upset Apple," a company known for its culture of secrecy.

Last week, Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reported that Apple was planning to invest the equivalent of $3.6 billion in Kia as part of a planned manufacturing partnership between the two companies that would have seen Kia build the Apple Car at its assembly plant in Georgia. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the Apple Car would be based on Hyundai's E-GMP electric vehicle platform, which would have allowed for a range of over 300 miles, acceleration from 0-60 miles per hour in as little as 3.5 seconds, a top speed of 160 miles per hour, up to an 80% charge within 18 minutes, and more.

Nikkei Asia reported that Apple is in discussions with at least six Japanese automakers over potential supply and manufacturing partnerships, so it sounds like Apple is still in the early stage of negotiations with automakers around the world.

In any case, it's believed that the Apple Car is still years away from being released, with predictions ranging from 2024 all the way to 2028.

Article Link: Hyundai and Kia Now Say They Aren't in Discussions to Develop Apple Car

 

[farewelwilliams]

no longer in discussion after shorts cashed out.

 

[Caliber26]

Loose lips sink ships.

 

[calstanford]

Childish this whole thing

 

[syklee26]

Apple will announce partnership with Kia in March event. Book it!

 

[cardfan]

Head on down to the Kia store. Make 250 a week? We can approve you.

 

[anshuvorty]

Good call by Hyundai/Kia...you have to sell your soul to partner with Apple...Foxconn is a good example...

 

[Student of Life]

Apple needs them more than Hyundai/Kia needs Apple. If it’s true what other realistic options does Apple have?

 

[syklee26]

Hyundai/Kia are public company. They were required by securities law of Korea to disclose something this morning (“Response to rumors”) That’s why Apple “cut off negotiation“ with them, so Apple can announce this first. They will “one more thing” this in March. WHy announce something that will not happen for 4-5 years? Because if Hyundai/Kia sign agreement with Apple, they have to disclose this.

 

[JPack]

It's way too early for Apple to sign contracts with anyone. Apple's RFP process probably won't be final until the next couple of years.

Way too much premature excitement over initial discussions that Apple is probably having with every major car maker in the world.

 

[Scipster]

Not surprised, as MacRumors reported earlier both companies are extremely proud of their own work and aren't interested in building cars other than their own. Somehow I don't see any manufacturer producing cars for Apple for that very reason (Apple would want it to be called the Apple Car, not Hyundai Car with Apple). I think Apple will probably invest in its own manufacturing facilities like Tesla or nix the project altogether. They sure got the capital!

 

[now i see it]

If Kia wants nothing to do with them - who will?

 

[Act3]

As they shouldn't be.... Do you really think high end Apple wants to associate with budget market vehicles such as Kia or Hyundai? yes I know the sonata is ranked fairly high in the sedan market but they are still budget vehicles.

 

[luvbug]

Is it 2027, yet?

 

[goobot]

I really can’t see an Apple car being successful, no different than the edition Apple Watch.

 

[Bluetoot-]

And I oop-

 

[pubb]

I feel like this may be like the Bill Clinton parsing of the word "is".

"No, we are not currently in negotiations" which is totally true.

*walks back into conference room to negotiate with Apple*

 

[Bluetoot-]

As they shouldn't be.... Do you really think high end Apple wants to associate with budget market vehicles such as Kia or Hyundai? yes I know the sonata is ranked fairly high in the sedan market but they are still budget vehicles.

The Hyundai and Kia brands may be budget, but Hyundai’s manufacturing prowess is nothing to scoff at. You should look it up; it’s quite interesting

 

[krewger]

I pray for a Lexus apple car. Reliability of Kia/Hyundai is appalling.

 

[krewger]

The Hyundai and Kia brands may be budget, but Hyundai’s manufacturing prowess is nothing to scoff at. You should look it up; it’s quite interesting

Until you realize that all Kia/Hyundai dealerships are replacing multiple engines every week because they start knocking like a peg leg pirate running across a pirate ship deck.

 

[Kabeyun]

My guess is somewhere along the line somebody oopsed with an NDA.

 

[JosephAW]

Kia probably didn’t want to build a vehicle that was priced over 100k. Apple is looking for a higher end manufacturer.


Can’t wait to see their 16” 8k iPad for the dash console.

 

[japasneezemonk]

The Hyundai and Kia brands may be budget, but Hyundai’s manufacturing prowess is nothing to scoff at. You should look it up; it’s quite interesting

Agreed. I remember reading how Hyundai is the third largest car manufacturer by volume, right behind Volkswagen and Toyota. It seems to me that what they have is a branding problem, but it’s not like they need Apple or it’s business.

In the 70-80’s Toyota and Honda took advantage of the perceived lack of long term reliability in American and German cars. Hyundai and Kia have not had that moment yet. On the other hand, Volkswagen seems to be doing ok. VW owns Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, etc... but most people don’t know that. Whatever vehicle you may want to buy that’s not American or Japanese, there’s a good change VW will profit from it.

 

[Bluetoot-]

Until you realize that all Kia/Hyundai dealerships are replacing multiple engines every week because they start knocking like a peg leg pirate running across a pirate ship deck.

The only data I have to go on are reliability ratings and other such reports. For the most part, Hyundai’s more recent generations of products (including the Genesis lineup) seem to have high marks for reliability.

I won’t suggest that they are reaching Toyota-levels of reliability (no one has), but Hyundai wouldn’t have been a bad partner. However, knowing Hyundai, this wasn’t going to pan out in the first place.

 

[Metatron]

Apple should not be allowed to make a car. Congress needs to stop this madness. It’s no different than ISPs owning a content company (looking at you AT&T and others). These massively large companies need to be broken up.