Conflicting reports on cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Apple… Hyundai Motors’interested’ in re-publication to be released on the 8th

Input 2021.02.07 10:24

Amid interest in whether Hyundai Motor Group will participate in the production of Apple’s self-driving electric vehicle’Apple Car’, reports of mixed content regarding cooperation between the two sides came out one after another. A day after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and CNBC reported that Kia was discussing ways to produce Apple cars, Bloomberg said that Hyundai Motor Group and Apple had stopped discussing cooperation. Confusion intensified in domestic and foreign industries and stock markets. On the 8th, Hyundai Motor Group plans to release a re-announcement on the matter, and attention is focused on what content will be included.

On January 8, the Hyundai Motor Group reported that “Apple requested the Hyundai Motor Group to cooperate on the joint development of autonomous electric vehicles.” , It has not been decided in an early stage.”

It means that Hyundai Motor Company indirectly acknowledged the discussion of cooperation with Apple, but the industry evaluated that the reason why Hyundai did not directly mention Apple is because of the “Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)” strongly requested by Apple. All.

Since then, the discussion of cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Apple has shown progress. When domestic media reports that Kia will start producing Apple cars among Hyundai Motor Group came out, Kia announced on the 19th of last month that “We are considering cooperation with a number of foreign companies related to the autonomous electric vehicle business, but have not yet decided.”

Overseas, they expressed great interest in the possibility of cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Apple. The US economic media CNBC quoted multiple officials on the 4th (local time) and said, “Apple has reached an agreement on how to produce Apple cars at Kia’s West Point assembly plant in Georgia, USA.” I will conclude,” he reported.

The US economic magazine WSJ reported on the 5th (local time) that Hyundai Motors is discussing ways to produce Apple cars from 2024 as soon as Kia invests 3 billion dollars (about 3.4 trillion won) in negotiations with Apple. WSJ cited sources and explained that if the agreement is reached, up to 100,000 units can be assembled at Kia’s Georgia plant from the first year of production.

However, the two media said that the two companies did not finally reach an agreement for cooperation, and that Hyundai-Kia Motors is not the only automaker that is discussing cooperation with Apple car production.

Earlier, global Apple expert Guo Ming-chi, a researcher at Tianping International Securities in Taiwan, said on the 2nd, “The first Apple car will be based on the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle platform E-GMP.” Hyundai Mobis (012330)Analyze that Kia will lead the component design and production, and Kia will be in charge of production in the United States.

However, there was a report that the cooperation between the two sides would suddenly fail. Bloomberg reported on the 5th, citing multiple sources that Apple recently temporarily suspended consultations with Hyundai Motor Group on consignment production of’Apple cars’. It is unclear whether or when discussions on cooperation between Apple and Kia Motors will resume. Bloomberg added that “Hyundai Motor Group’s indirect mention of Apple and the cooperation project to the Korean media is producing bad results.”

On the 8th and 19th of this month, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia are planning to re-disclose related information. I am interested in what Hyundai Motor will take right now. In the industry, if the discussion continues, it is highly likely that Kia will become a consignment manufacturer of Apple Cars.