A Kia Motors factory in Georgia in 2015.
Photograph:
Todd J. Van Emst / Associated Press
Kia Corp.
000270 1.33%
approached potential partners about a plan to set up Apple Inc.’s
AAPL 2.58%
long-awaited electric car in Georgia, according to people familiar with the matter.
The proposal would involve a multi-billion dollar investment, according to people familiar with the matter, who point out that the deal has not yet been finalized. If successful, it will push the iPhone maker into the auto business after several years of covert work in which its engineers planned to bring down the automotive industry for more than 100 years.
The likelihood of a final settlement was called into question when Kia’s parent company Hyundai Motor Group,
said last month, then sought to minimize, which was in talks with Apple to cooperate in a driverless electric car. Apple never confirmed these negotiations, and its flirtations with other automakers in the past have failed.
Hyundai talked to Apple about investing more than $ 3 billion in a deal that would prompt its subsidiary Kia to start building cars with the technology company’s brand in 2024, said a person familiar with the matter. Under that agreement, up to 100,000 vehicles could be assembled in the first year in Georgia, where Kia has a factory, the person said. Korean newspaper Dong-A IlBo previously reported the scope of the potential deal.
—Ben Foldy contributed to this article.
Write to Tim Higgins at [email protected], Elizabeth Koh at [email protected] and Cameron McWhirter at [email protected]
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Published in the February 5, 2021 print edition as ‘Kia seeks partners to build Apple cars’.