• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Biden Admin. Makes EV Credits Available to More Buyers
  • Week Ahead: Chicago … that Toddling Town
  • The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight
  • TikTok Reveals the Hottest EVs in the Industry
  • Millions of Older Hyundai, Kia Owners May Face Trouble Getting Car Insurance
  • Bugatti Chiron Profilée Sets New Auction Sales Record
  • Another Delay for VinFast Customers
  • Ford Making Return to Formula One for 2026 Season
  • Ford CEO Farley “Frustrated” by $2 Billion Loss for 2022
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Achieves EPA-Estimated 361-Mile Range
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Exclusive: Hyundai-Apple Car Talks Could be Resuscitated

        Exclusive: Hyundai-Apple Car Talks Could be Resuscitated

        Negotiations put on hold due to variety of issues.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Feb. 08, 2021
        Hyundai may not be done talking with Apple about building its autonomous electric vehicle.

        Despite the Hyundai Motor Group announcing Monday that it is “not in talks with Apple” at this point, TheDetroitBureau.com has learned the two sides could revive the lengthy negotiations aimed at having the South Korean carmaker produce an autonomous, all-electric vehicle for the tech giant.

        Barely a week before the two companies were expected to announce a deal, Hyundai issued a regulatory report indicating that the discussions had been halted. The news immediately sent Hyundai’s share price tumbling sharply. Expectations of a deal previously boosted the company’s stock by as much as two-thirds once reports of a possible deal with Apple emerged at the beginning of the year.

        “Hyundai Motor is not in talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development,” the Korean automaker said in a regulatory filing on Monday. It added that “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.”

        Document language causes confusion

        The talks with Apple centered on building the tech giant’s car at the Kia plant in West Point, Georgia.

        The language used in the filing could create some confusion as it leaves unclear exactly what had been happening between the two companies, and whether any discussions have been completely halted or simply put on hold.

        The latter appears to be the case, according to several well-placed sources who are in a position to follow the talks between Hyundai and Apple which began about two years ago.

        As recently as last week, South Korean media, citing industry analysts and unnamed company officials, were reporting that Apple would invest 4 trillion won, or about $3.6 billon, in Kia, the smaller of the brands making up the Hyundai Motor Group, or HMG. The plan, according to those reports, would be to produce about 100,000 autonomous, all-electric vehicles at the Kia assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, with longer-term goals of boosting that to as many as 400,000 vehicles annually.

        But the unusual structure of HMG has created problems pulling a deal together, emphasized well-placed insiders.

        Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, essentially took over the smaller Kia following the country’s economic meltdown two decades ago. But there is a complicated business structure that means Hyundai doesn’t have complete control. And that has led to “jockeying” between the two brands to see which would come out on top if an Apple deal were to be completed, explained one insider, adding that there has been “a lot of back-and-forth” between the two that contributed to HMG’s decision to halt negotiations with Apple last Friday.

        There are other challenges, TheDetroitBureau.com was advised. For one thing, the country’s powerful labor unions appear to be concerned about the plan to produce an Apple Car in the United States, rather than in HMG’s home market. South Korean unions have previously raised concerns about Hyundai’s expanding investment in global production, including factories in the U.S., the Czech Republic and China.

        Euisun Chung, new chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, is reportedly looking to get Apple back to discussions about building the vehicle.

        How good is the deal for Hyundai?

        There are other concerns, insiders said, including the level of access Hyundai and Kia would get to the technology Apple plans to build into its vehicle, including the ability to drive autonomously. Eusin Chung, who became HMG chairman last October, has put a premium on such technology, Hyundai acquiring several companies it hopes will make it a serious contender in the emerging field of self-driving vehicles.

        So, building a car for Apple without being able to get its technology for use in Hyundai and Kia products would diminish the value of any deal.

        “From Hyundai’s perspective and Kia’s perspective, I mean, there could’ve been a bit of a conflict of interest,” Sung Yop Chung, regional head of automobiles and components at Daiwa Capital Markets, said during an interview with CNBC. “They don’t really want to just become a subcontractor of Apple, I think they were looking to sort of gain from Apple’s strong capabilities in software.”

        The Silicon Valley giant has been exploring its automotive options for almost a decade and was, at one point, looking at going it alone as part of what was known internally as Project Titan. Several years ago, however, Apple largely wound down the program, releasing much of the program’s workforce or transferring them to other projects. But it was believed to be moving ahead with a sharper focus on autonomous driving technology.

        “It makes sense for them to partner up with someone who has experience in building cars and has experience in the supply chain,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal auto analyst with tech research firm Guidehouse, adding that a deal could offer benefits to Hyundai and Kia by increasing economies of scale. But that alone might not offset the negatives, such as brand dilution, said Abuelsamid.

        Magna’s facility in Graz, Austria already builds a variety of vehicles for established automakers.

        While Hyundai may “not (be) in talks with Apple” at the moment, pressure from Chung could point back to the bargaining table, TheDetroitBureau.com was told. That said, if such a deal now is completely dead, Apple is not without options. There are other potential ways for it to get a car into production without setting up its own manufacturing base.

        Apple has options: Magna

        Canadian mega-supplier Magna International already serves as a contract manufacturer to a wide array of automakers using a flexible assembly plant in Graz, Austria. If anything, Magna has signaled interest in expanding its operations, announcing late last year a deal with EV automaker Fisker. That startup will use a platform developed by Magna as the underpinnings of the Fisker Ocean SUV set to go into production in 2022.

        Magna has indicated it would like to set up similar arrangements with other nascent EV makers, the supplier also confirming it would be willing to build a second contract assembly plant in the U.S. if there was a viable economic plan.

        Apple also could turn to longtime partner Foxconn, the assembler of iPhones and other Apple devices. The company last year announced a strategy similar to Magna’s, developing a flexible EV platform that it could assemble on a contract basis at a new assembly plant in China.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        Biden drives Cadillac Lyriq at NAIAS 2022

        Biden Admin. Makes EV Credits Available to More Buyers

        Today
        ChevyCamaroZL1Welburn01.jpg

        Week Ahead: Chicago … that Toddling Town

        Today

        The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight

        Feb. 04, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: