Mumbai, India (CU)_ Hyundai Motor Co of South Korea announced on Monday that currently it is not in discussion with Apple Inc on autonomous electric vehicles, sending the automaker’s shares skidding a month after it said it was in early-stage discussions with the tech giant about autonomous cars.
Shares in Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia Corp declined by 6.6 percent and 14 percent as of 0204 GMT respectively, while the KOSPI benchmark for the wider market fell by 1 percent. In regulatory filings, both Hyundai and Kia said, “We are not having talks with Apple on developing autonomous vehicles.”
At the beginning of January, shares in both car manufacturers increased after Hyundai said, ” Apple and Hyundai are in discussion, but as it is at early stage, nothing has been decided.” This year, Hyundai shares have increased more than 20 percent, while Kia has climbed 40 percent on reports that they might build an Apple car.
The statement arrived in reaction to a local media story that Apple and Hyundai were in talks to build electric self-driving vehicles by 2027 and to manufacture batteries at either Hyundai or Kia-operated US factories. But on the same day, the automaker reversed, releasing subsequent statements that omitted all Apple references but said Hyundai was ” getting requests for cooperation on joint development of autonomous electric vehicles from various companies,” without naming any of them.
Apple has never admitted discussions about constructing vehicles with the automaker, and was not readily available for comment. In December, it was reported that Apple was pushing ahead with autonomous vehicle technology and was planning to manufacture a passenger car that could have its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.
