Over the past few months, rumors of a partnership between Apple and Hyundai – including affiliate company Kia – have made waves across the internet, seemingly leaving the deal in shambles.
Friday Kia’s shares rose over 8% following a story from South Korean news site Chosun Biz which claimed that negotiations on a potential electric vehicle (EV) may not have been completely cancelled (via Reuters).
https://twitter.com/notdumbmoney/status/1365332245771399169
In the Chosun article, the publication wrote, “Even if the negotiations on electric vehicles fail, there are many items that can be negotiated in other fields, so we are still optimistic about the possibility of partnership between the two sides,” citing an unnamed source who was familiar with Hyundai and Apple’s negotiations.
Last year, Hyundai and Apple signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), in which the companies agreed to collaborate in eight different sectors – one of which was EVs.
While the companies have publicly claimed that partnership talks have been called off, there are a number of components involved in producing an EV, so Hyundai or Kia may still elect to help with some small portion of this production.
In any case, Apple’s car is still many years out, so it’s tough to say with any certainty who the company will choose to partner with. Whether it’s Kia or not, Apple’s autonomous car is certainly something worth looking forward to.
