A month ago Hyundai and Kia confirmed the early stage talk with Apple about the development of self-driving cars but now today Hyundai motors have said they are not in talks with Apple.
The automakers said today that “We are receiving requests for cooperation in the joint development of autonomous electric vehicles from various companies, but they are at an early stage and nothing has been decided”. Also said, “We are not having talks with Apple about automatic cars”.
At the start of January 2021, Hyundai has confirmed the talk with Apple and said we are hopeful to introduce automatic self-driving electric cars and batteries by 2027. But now Hyundai has denied having any such deal. However, a report by CNBC said the companies will finalize the deal in February around February 17.
Now the concern is the reason behind this statement. Apple is keen to keep its plans secret, don’t allow to share, and never comment immediately outside. The expert said the reason may be the uncovering of the deal at such an early stage and that Apple was considering Hyundai only vehicle manufacturer but not a partner in strategy.
An analyst Kevin Yoo said, “It seems clear that Hyundai Motor Group has not been too happy with dealing with Apple. They made it clear that they do not want to be treated just as Apple’s supplier or manufacturer.”
If take a look at the words of the statement, it stated we are receiving the request from various companies, it is noteworthy that they have not made clear which company and has not taken Apple’s name particularly while when asked to Apple, they denied giving any statement.
It has also affected the stock market value of Hyundai and Kia, Hyundai’s shares drop to 2.8 billion dollars market value. Kia’s stock fell nearly 15 percent which is around 5.4 billion dollars market value and indeed it was the worst day for Kia since 2001. Last month when the news broke about Hyundai and Apple’s partnership it pushed Hyundai’s shares in the market and it was a favorable day for Hyundai for two decades.
Apple still has several options for a partnership like Honda, Tata Motors, Volvo, etc. The analysts said Apple now will look for the partnership with other companies that will agree to work only as manufacturers.
