After spilling the beans that it was in talks with Apple about its heavily rumored Apple Car, Hyundai and its affiliate Kia have both said they are not in talks with Apple.
“Our company is not going ahead with talks with Apple about the development of a self-driving car,” Nikkei Asia reports that Hyundai and Kia submitted in separate documents Monday. “Our company is receiving requests from multiple companies to jointly develop self-driving EV cars, but nothing has been decided yet as it is still in its early stages.”
According to BloombergHyundai’s most recent statement is similar to that of a month ago after it informed the media that it was in talks with Apple. A few hours later, Hyundai angrily withdrew to say it was in talks with numerous potential partners. Both Hyundai and Kia’s shares have fallen 6.21% and 15% respectively in Seoul after today’s news.
This isn’t exactly a surprising end to the back and forth between Hyundai and Apple over the past month. While we’re not sure, Apple is a notorious company obsessed with secrecy, and Hyundai’s blunder probably wouldn’t please Apple executives. It was also reported in late January that Hyundai executives were begin to have second doubts on the potential partnership, citing concerns that it would leave Apple in all its glory while Hyundai did the work to make the car. At the same time, there were reports that the Apple Car chassis would be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. Just last week, CNBC reported that Hyundai nearly struck a deal with Apple, with Kia’s Georgia plant to produce the Apple car. But this was all before news leaked last Friday that Apple reportedly press pause during calls with Hyundai and Kia.
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It is possible that Apple is being criticized by all the rumors flying left and right over the Apple Car and is waiting for the chatter – and the interest of the media – to drop. After all, the fact that Apple was interested in automotive technology is Silicon Valley is the worst maintained secret. Since the project quietly started in 2015, leaks, rumors and speculation have surfaced regularly in the tech media.
Of course, just because it didn’t work out with Hyundai doesn’t mean it’s the last we’ll hear from the Apple Car. Nikkei reported last week that Apple was in talks at least six Japanese car manufacturers. And if last month is any indication, we’re in for years of Apple Car rumors until the thing finally launches. How long will that take? Some have said that Apple has plans to be launched in 2024, reliable Apple forecast indicators have warned that timeline is a bit ambitious. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the earliest we would see an Apple Car is 2025, with a launch in 2028 or later much more likely. Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman cited Unnamed Apple sources say the project will take at least five to seven years. So hold on people, it’s gonna be a long ride.