SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co stated on Monday it isn’t now in talks with Apple Inc on autonomous electrical autos, sending the automaker’s shares skidding a month after it stated it was in early-stage talks on automobiles with the tech big.Shares in Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Corp slumped 6.6% and 14% respectively as of 0204 GMT whereas the broader market KOSPI benchmark dropped 1%.
In separate regulatory filings, Hyundai and Kia each stated, “We aren’t having talks with Apple on growing autonomous autos.”
In early January, shares in each automakers surged – after Hyundai stated, “Apple and Hyundai are in dialogue, however as it’s at early stage, nothing has been determined.” To date this yr, Hyundai shares have surged greater than 20%, whereas Kia has rocketed 40% on studies they could construct an Apple automotive.
The remark got here in response to a neighborhood media report that Apple and Hyundai have been in discussions to develop self-driving electrical autos by 2027 and develop batteries at U.S. factories operated by both Hyundai or Kia.
However the automaker backtracked the identical day, releasing subsequent statements that eliminated all mentions of Apple however stated Hyundai was “getting requests for cooperation on joint improvement of autonomous electrical autos from varied corporations”, with out figuring out any of them.
Apple has by no means acknowledged talks with the automaker about constructing autos, and wasn’t instantly out there for remark exterior enterprise hours in america.
Reuters reported in December that Apple was transferring ahead with autonomous automotive know-how and aimed to supply a passenger car that would embody its personal breakthrough battery know-how as early as 2024.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee; Modifying by Lincoln Feast and Kenneth Maxwell)
