Apple-Kia partnership not dead yet, report claims

Though Hyundai and Kia in February confirmed they were no longer in talks to create an "Apple Car" for Apple, a report on Friday suggests there might still be hope for a partnership between the companies.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Korean outlet Chosun Biz, via Reuters, reports Apple last year inked a memorandum of understanding with Kia to cooperate on projects spanning eight different sectors.

Hyundai in January said it was discussing a deal that would see Kia manufacture a so-called "Apple Car," but quickly walked back the statement after it caused a media firestorm. Electric vehicles, one of the categories covered in the MOU, was thought to be out of the picture after the automaker confirmed it was no longer in talks with Apple.

According to today's report, however, negotiations regarding a vehicle partnership have not been fully abandoned. Further, Kia has other opportunities should the electric car plans fall through, sources said.

"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," the person said.

The report goes on to say that Apple and Kia are discussing "last mile" mobility, a segment focused on the final leg of travel between one means of transportation and a destination. Electric scooters and rental bikes fall squarely into that arena.

Today's report comes about a week after the South Korean government said it would investigate whether Hyundai executives profited from the company's premature disclosure of "Apple Car" negotiations, news of which goosed the company's stock. Kia shares rose again today after the Chosun report was published.

Apple's autonomous car project is at this point an open secret. Specifics are unknown, but the company is widely rumored to be seeking an established manufacturer to produce its vision of a consumer electric vehicle.

20 Comments

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

It's just a flesh wound.

9secondkox2 3120 comments · 8 Years

Still such a strange collab.

Hyundai/Kia/genesis are the same company.

Hyundai is the staple, Kia is the low tent district, and Genesis is the high end brand.

You’d think Apple would be aligning with the Genesis branding. Not Kia.

Unless it won’t be branded by the auto mss as mugs terer at all. Perhaps only the manufacturing is provided? In that case, no worries. The Apple brand is high end and Hyundai/Kia/Genesis has some of the best automotive engineering and manufacturing on the planet. Certainly bodes well for a more reliable vehicle than a BMW or such. Hyundai, Honda, or Toyota. Any of those will do nicely.

fastasleep 6450 comments · 14 Years

Sidebar: For all the geniuses who were like "Foxconn can't make cars blah blah" in other threads:

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/apple-partner-foxconn-to-form-ev-partnership-with-fisker-1.1567958

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

fastasleep said:

Sidebar: For all the geniuses who were like "Foxconn can't make cars blah blah" in other threads:

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/apple-partner-foxconn-to-form-ev-partnership-with-fisker-1.1567958

The part many miss is that an EV has far fewer moving parts -- actually, it has far fewer parts -- than the old ICs.
And, many of the rest of the parts (like brakes, wheels and tires, suspension parts, etc) are pretty industry standard and can be obtained from third parties. The original founders of Tesla said that they had planned to buy door handles and such that way but the problem they ran into was that, although they were available to buy, their volumes were too low to attract suppliers.

But, a company like Foxconn in a country like China probably would not face such restrictions.

I suspect that autos and auto manufacturing will be turned on its head over the next couple decades.
Here is one that could do that. When was the last time you paid less than $5,000 for a new car?

A budget electric vehicle (EV) selling in China for $4,500 (£3,200) is now outselling Tesla's more upmarket cars.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56178802

MustSeeUHDTV 308 comments · 7 Years

9secondkox2 said:

The Apple brand is high end and Hyundai/Kia/Genesis has some of the best automotive engineering and manufacturing on the planet. Certainly bodes well for a more reliable vehicle than a BMW or such. Hyundai, Honda, or Toyota. Any of those will do nicely.

Genesis/Hyundai could take a big reputation hit if the Tiger Wood investigation shows that the SUV was at fault......we'll find out soon.....