Hyundai Motor has announced that it is now no longer in discussions with Apple to produce autonomous electric cars. The announcement comes just one month after it confirmed early-stage talks with the tech giant.
The South Korean automaker’s shares have taken a huge tumble as a result of the announcement. Hyundai’s stock slid 6.2 percent wiping $3 billion off its market value. Its affiliate company Kia, which had been rumoured in reports as the likely operational partner for Apple, was also not spared, falling by 15 percent. That translates to a loss of $5.5 billion for Kia.
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“We are receiving requests for cooperation in joint development of autonomous electric vehicles from various companies, but they are at early stage and nothing has been decided,” the automakers said. Its announcement is in compliance with stock market rules requiring regular updates to investors regarding market rumours.
“We are not having talks with Apple on developing autonomous vehicles,” it further said, according to Reuters.
Kia shares had initially surged by 61% after Hyundai confirmed a report in January 2021 that Apple and Hyundai were in discussions to develop self-driving electric vehicles by 2027. The carmaker had also confirmed that the partnership would develop batteries at US factories operated by either Hyundai or Kia.
Apple and Hyundai had first started talks over a car partnership in 2018, according to Reuters. However, that progress was hindered by the company’s reluctance on working with outsiders, Reuters said quoting a source.
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