After spilling the beans who was in talks with Apple over his alleged Apple car, Hyundai and its affiliate Kia said they are not in talks with Apple.
“Our company is not negotiating with Apple about the development of self-driving vehicles,” informed Nikkei Asia that Hyundai and Kia said in separate documents on Monday. “Our company is receiving requests from several companies to jointly develop autonomous EV cars, but nothing has been decided yet, as it is in the initial stage.”
According Bloomberg, Hyundai’s most recent statement is similar to the one it released a month ago, after letting out the media that was in negotiations with Apple. Some hours later, Hyundai stepped back furiously to say it was in talks with several potential partners. Hyundai and Kia’s shares fell 6.21% and 15%, respectively, in Seoul after today’s news.
This is not exactly a surprising ending to the comings and goings between Hyundai and Apple last month. Although we cannot know for sure, Apple is a notoriously obsessed with secret, and Hyundai’s gaffe probably wouldn’t appeal to Apple’s silent executives. At the end of January, it was also reported that Hyundai executives were starting to have second doubts about the potential partnership, citing concerns that it would leave Apple in all its glory while Hyundai did the job of making the car. At the same time, there were reports that the Apple Car chassis would be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. Last week, CNBC reported that Hyundai was very close to reaching an agreement with Apple, with the Kia plant in Georgia set to manufacture the Apple car. But that was all before news leaked last Friday that Apple allegedly take a break from conversations with Hyundai and Kia.
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It is possible that Apple is irritated by all the rumors that circulate left and right about the Apple Car, and is waiting until the conversation – and the interest of the media – subsides. After all, the fact that Apple is interested in automotive technology is silicon Worst guard in the valley secret. Leaks, rumors and speculation have surfaced periodically in the technology media since the project’s silent launch in 2015.
Of course, just because it didn’t work with Hyundai does not mean that this is the last we will hear from the Apple Car. Nikkei reported last week that Apple was in talks with at least six Japanese automakers. And if last month is any indication, we are gearing up for years of rumors about the Apple car until the thing is released. How long is it going to take? Well, although some have said that Apple is planning to launch in 2024, Apple’s reliable forecasters warned that the timeline is a little ambitious. The analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the earliest we would see an Apple Car is 2025, with a 2028 or later launch much more likely. Meanwhile, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg quoted Unidentified Apple sources said the project will take at least five to seven years. So fasten your personal belt, it’s going to be a long journey.