- Some Hyundai executives are reluctant to partner with Apple to make electric vehicles, Reuters reported.
- Hyundai confirmed in early January that it was in “early” talks with Apple about an electric car.
- “We are not a company that makes cars for others,” said a director.
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Executives at South Korean automotive giant Hyundai are divided on whether the company should partner with Apple to create an electric vehicle, according to a Reuters report.
Hyundai acknowledged in early January that there had been “early” discussions about making an electric car with Apple. But some executives are reluctant to become a contract manufacturer for the US tech giant, a director familiar with internal discussions told Reuters.
“We are not a company that makes cars for others,” they said. “It’s not like working with Apple always gets great results.”
Apple uses contract manufacturers for other products: Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, makes its iPhones, for example.
South Korean media reported on Jan. 10 that Hyundai and Apple planned to sign a deal by March 2021, making a “beta” of an Apple electric car in 2022 and possibly starting full-size in 2024.
Apple never acknowledged the talks with Hyundai and declined to comment to Reuters on the latest report.
Hyundai, which has additional manufacturing capacity, did not update talks with Apple on Tuesday during a earnings call, reporting its best quarterly profit in three years. Insider has asked Hyundai for comment.
People close to the discussions told Reuters that if a deal was struck, Hyundai or Kia – owned by Hyundai Motor Co Group – would make the electric cars, which would be designed, sold and branded by Apple.
Kia, not Hyundai, could build the cars
Another Hyundai executive told Reuters that “tech companies like Google and Apple want us to be like Foxconn (contract phone manufacturer).
“A collaboration may initially help to strengthen the brand image of Hyundai or Kia. But in the medium or longer term, we will only provide the cars with grenades, and Apple does the brains.”
Hyundai Motor Co Group has “tentatively decided” it would like Kia, not Hyundai, to partner with Apple if a deal goes through, a Hyundai insider told Reuters.
It said: “The Group is concerned that the Hyundai brand would simply become Apple’s contract manufacturer, which would not help Hyundai in its attempt to build a premium image with its Genesis brand.”
The Genesis brand, which includes the recently released Genesis G90 sedan, includes Hyundai’s most luxurious vehicles.
Kia has additional manufacturing capacity at its Georgia plant in the US, the person said.