A new report from Reuters indicates Hyundai executives are divided regarding the possibility of forging a partnership with Apple related to the tech giant’s self-driving electric vehicle ambitions.
The report also mentions that Hyundai recently accidentally confirmed it’s currently in talks with Apple during a recent earnings call. Some reports suggest that Hyundai could hand off the Apple Car project to Kia, a company it owns a significant stake in and has a partnership with.
“We are agonizing over how to do it, whether it is good to do it or not,” said a Hyundai executive aware of the internal discussions, according to Reuters. “We are not a company which manufactures cars for others. It is not like working with Apple would always produce great results.”
The story goes on to say that Hyundai is “traditionally known for its reluctance to work with outsiders” and typically aims to keep its production in-house. Apple reportedly first started talking to Hyundai about a possible partnership back in 2018 when the project was known as ‘Project Titan.’
Apple has never publically acknowledged it’s working on a car or technology related to self-driving.
After months of silence, rumours regarding Apple’s self-driving EV with the project possibly getting a 2025 release date at the earliest started to appear in late December. Following this, in early January, news broke courtesy of Reuters via Korea IT News that Apple is in talks with Hyundai regarding its vehicle project.
Source: Reuters
