After waste the beans Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia have both said they are not in talks with Apple.
“Our company is not continuing talks with Apple about developing autonomous driving vehicles,” Nikkei Asia reported Monday in separate documents that Hyundai and Kia said. “Our company is receiving requests from several companies to develop joint autonomous EV cars, but nothing has been decided yet as it is in the early stages.”
According to Bloomberg, Hyundai’s most recent statement is similar to the statement he issued a month ago after showing the media that he was in talks with Apple. A couple of hours later, Hyundai resigned angrily to say it was in talks with numerous potential partners. Both Hyundai and Kia shares fell 6.21% and 15% respectively in Seoul following today’s news.
This is not exactly a surprising end to the back-and-forth between Hyundai and Apple over the past month. Although we can not know for sure, Apple is notorious obsessed with secrecy, and Hyundai’s gaffe is unlikely to please Apple’s executives. At the end of January it was also reported that Hyundai drivers did. start doubting about the potential partnership, citing concerns that it will leave Apple with all the glory while Hyundai does the work of manufacturing the car. At the same time, there were reports that the chassis of the Apple Car would be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. Just last week, CNBC report that Hyundai was very close to concluding an agreement with Apple, with the Kia plant in Georgia that would manufacture the Apple car. But this was before news leaked last Friday that Apple allegedly take a break during conversations with Hyundai and Kia.
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It’s possible that Apple is raving about all the rumors flying left and right about the Apple Car, waiting until the conversation – and interest in the media – dies down. After all, the fact that Apple is interested in automotive technology is Silicon Valley’s worst interviews secret. Leaks, rumors and speculations have appeared in technological media from time to time since the project was quietly launched in 2015.
Just because it did not work out with Hyundai does not mean, of course, 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 carmakers. And if the past month is an indication, there are years of Apple Car rumors until the case finally starts. How long will it be? Well, although some said Apple planned to start in 2024, reliable Apple forecasters have warned that it timeline is a bit ambitious. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the earliest we would see an Apple Car is 2025, with a launch of 2028 or later, much more likely. Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman quoted unnamed Apple sources say the project will take at least five to seven years. So fast people, it’s going to be a long ride.