Hyundai and Kia Motors have just shared this news and their stock prices have dropped.
Shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors fell a large 6.21 percent and about 15 percent (see below) respectively during Monday trade this week as Hyundai Motors said that they have not confirmed any deal with Apple Inc to develop an electric and autonomous vehicle. Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors said that they we not in talks with Apple Inc. (shares rose 0.11 percent) and this was all just speculation and social media rumors.
Separate Ways
Apple which is based in Cupertino, California however have been discussing similar plans with other global auto manufacturers.
Meanwhile, news outlets are saying that Hyundai and Kia Motors are in discussions with other technology companies to work on autonomous cars.
“Hyundai Motor is getting requests from multiple companies for cooperation in joint development of autonomous, electric vehicles but nothing has been decided since it’s in early stage,” the company said, according to a CNBC translation of a regulatory filing.
Unofficial Statement
“Hyundai Motor is not in talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development,” it added. Its affiliate Kia Motors, which is the second-largest car manufacturer in South Korea behind Hyundai, made a similar filing.
The company said it was reviewing prospects of cooperating with “multiple companies overseas” over autonomous electric vehicles, but nothing has been decided. Kia Motors also said it was not in talks with Apple.
Hyundai Strength
Hyundai is the world’s fifth largest automobile manufacturer in terms of sales volume. The EV shift is being promoted under the leadership of Mr. Chung Eui-sun, who became chairman in October 2020. It plans to launch 12 EV models in the next five years and sell 560,000 units a year in 2013. The luxury car brand Genesis is also developing EVs and has a wide product lineup.
Hyundai unveiled the E-GMP, which is an Electric Global Modular Platform, last year. It is a vehicular platform built specifically for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Both Hyundai and Kia will use this platform in their upcoming electric vehicles. The upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5 will be the first electric vehicle to use this platform.
This new chassis is capable of delivering a high level of performance. Hyundai has claimed that the vehicles using E-GMP platform will have a range of around 300 miles (483 km). Other figures include fast-charging up to 80 percent in just 18 minutes, accelerating from 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h.
Apple Talking To Who?
In addition, rumors online have suggested that Apple is in talks with six Japanese car manufacturers right now. As a result, stock prices for auto manufactures rose sharply on the Tokyo Stock Exchange this Monday. Mazda’s stock price (see below) has temporarily risen to its upper limit (stop height) level of the price range and Mitsubishi Motors, Subaru, Nissan stock prices are also rising.
There was widespread speculation that a domestic automobile manufacturer might be selected as a production contractor for the Apple ICar which is said to be being considered by the IPhone manufacturer.
