SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor and Apple Inc plan to sign a partnership agreement for autonomous electric cars by March and start production in the United States around 2024, local Korea newspaper IT News reported Sunday.
The report follows a statement on Friday from Hyundai Motor that it was in early talks with Apple after another local media outlets said the companies wanted to launch a self-driving electric car in 2027, pushing Hyundai’s stock up nearly 20%.
Hyundai Motor declined to comment on the report on Sunday, reiterating Friday’s comments that it has received requests for possible cooperation from several companies in the development of autonomous electric vehicles.
Apple had no immediate comment.
An updated version of the IT news release removed details, including manufacturing location and capacity, and the timetable for signing the agreement and launching the pilot vehicles.
The previous version stated that the companies planned to build the cars at Kia Motors’ plant in Georgia, or jointly invest in a new plant in the United States to produce 100,000 vehicles by 2024. The proposed plant’s full annual capacity would be 400,000 vehicles.
Kia Motors is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor.
The report also said Hyundai and Apple planned to release a “beta version” of the Apple cars next year.
Reuters reported last month that Apple is making advancements in autonomous car technology, aiming to produce a passenger car by 2024 that could incorporate its own breakthrough battery technology.
Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Adaptation by Elaine Hardcastle and Barbara Lewis