Hyundai and Kia confirm 'Apple Car' talks have ended

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited February 2021
South Korean carmaker Hyundai and affiliate Kia have declared they are no longer in negotiations with Apple to manufacture the rumored Apple Car.




Following a flurry of reports about Apple's talks with Hyundai and Kia about the 'Apple Car,' Hyundai has publicly admitted it's no longer in discussions with the iPhone maker about the project.

In a regulatory filing, Hyundai and Kia said the two firms had received requests from multiple outfits about self-driving electric car development, but no decision had been made as the talks were at the early stages. Bloomberg reports Hyundai's shares dropped 8.4% after the filing, and Kia fell 14%.

The two car producers were reported in January to be in discussions with Apple about the 'Apple Car,' talks Hyundai unusually confirmed before backing away from the statement. Apple was reportedly upset with the public disclosure.

On Friday, the discussions between the companies were paused, with internal disagreements with Hyundai having the potential to derail plans altogether.

While the talks were occurring, there was the suggestion Hyundai would bring production to the United States, operating a factory in Georgia controlled by Kia with a view to producing 100,000 cars by 2024. It could have also involved an investment of 4 trillion won (about $3.6 billion) from Apple to make the project a reality.

Production duties could have been handed over to Kia completely, as Hyundai was concerned its brand reputation would be damaged by becoming an assembler for other car companies instead of working on its own products. Executives were allegedly "agonizing" over the decision.

Hyundai and Kia weren't the only companies Apple was talking to about the "Apple Car," as the iPhone maker was allegedly speaking to at least six Japanese automakers at the same time.
n2itivguy
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    Certainly nice to see the zero tolerance of the news leak by their chosen partners... regardless whom they choose to use moving forward i would def wish they do like Tesla and do it all themselves even if it means further delays. This way the whole product is truly apple as in an apple car. Just how I see it.
    Gabycaladanianlongpathllaman2itivguycolumbiawatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 47
    Never mind what is the reason, bur I prefer better no wedding, than wedding and after the first year divorce.
    spartadatajas99caladanianlongpathllaman2itivguyStrangeDayscolumbiawatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 47
    XedXed Posts: 2,519member
    Just like Apple talking to Verizon about getting the iPhone prior to 2007 with what I believe was a maneuver to get AT&T to offer more favorable terms*, this seems like the same tactic.

    * I never believed Apple would bring a CDMA over a GSM iPhone to market first.
    ramanpfaffGabyjas99watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 47
    Wiseman said:
    Certainly nice to see the zero tolerance of the news leak by their chosen partners... regardless whom they choose to use moving forward i would def wish they do like Tesla and do it all themselves even if it means further delays. This way the whole product is truly apple as in an apple car. Just how I see it.
    Apple owns their own factories for iPhones?
    Phones and cars are totally different. Sure they surely know how to source oem and focus on design but with a car entry possibly, the fact they would use a pre-designed platform from the likes of any car manufacturer breaks the norm 100%. It’s not an original car when you use a platform chassis - call it half Kia and half apple is more accurate. With iPhone it’s all apple. If you read the previous posts apple was going with a predefined platform - not too apple like... 

    what do you do with almost 2-3 trillion liquid? Nothing... at least do it 100% apple not borrow some bs platform from some garbage car maker... 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 47
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    M68000M68000 Posts: 719member
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    There is just one little problem with your claim.  EV vehicles are about 1% of the market.  Assuming that these allegedly wonderful EV vehicles ever go mass market, there is plenty of room for market share by many others and not just Tesla or Apple.   Will be interesting long term if EV vehicles are really great for environment and live up to the hype
    jas99mobirdflyingdpentropyspulseimagesStrangeDaysRayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 47
    Sounds like Monday will be a good day for some stock jumps in multiple directions. Stocks love rumors. Talk rumors and stock jumps one day, cancelled talks the next day...
    caladanianwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 47
    XedXed Posts: 2,519member
    M68000 said:
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    There is just one little problem with your claim.  EV vehicles are about 1% of the market.  Assuming that these allegedly wonderful EV vehicles ever go mass market, there is plenty of room for market share by many others and not just Tesla or Apple.   Will be interesting long term if EV vehicles are really great for environment and live up to the hype
    I agree with you, except to say that his comments about how Apple can't just come in without any automobile experience and make a name for itself being just a "little problem." By that measure, Tesla would've never had a chance… and that was the talk every… single… year they were selling cars. Even now I hear how Tesla is going to fail because others offer larger discounts (a fact that is only possible because Tesla has sold so many more EVs than others) and how VW Group, for example, will eat Tesla's lunch as soon as they get serious (which they've been trying to do for a long time).

    For him to say that no one can possibly make a name for themselves in a new market category is foolish, and even more so when you consider he's pushing a company that came from nowhere and didn't have—and still doesn't have—the connections, supply chain, and money to start an automotive company from scratch that Apple has at its disposable.
    edited February 2021 danhlongpathrandominternetperson
  • Reply 9 of 47
    I guess this is the corporate equivalent of "snitches get stitches".
    pulseimageslongpathequality72521n2itivguywatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 47
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    The EV market is just starting. There will be plenty of room for Apple and Tesla. The market will be big enough for a lot of players, just like the ICE market is big enough for mass market cars made by Hyundai, or custom cars built by Lotus. 
    StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 47
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    The problem is that Tesla makes very few cars and only makes a profit from selling carbon credits. They also have some very serious competitors now. VW just sold 121,000 EV’s and many PHEV’s. The ID3 is now the second best selling car in Germany behind the Golf. And Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes, PSA and the Koreans are about to release various EV models. Sell that overvalued Tesla stock now.
    skippingrockrandominternetpersonStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 47
    Yes most of Tesla’s profit has come from credits that are soon to end. Sell those stocks soon. 

    Sorry to hear that we are not going to get a Korean Apple car. Just don’t make a deal with any Chinese car company. They’ll steal the tech for sure. 
    longpathStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 47
    Am I the only one finding all these comments strange? We’ve got a petty Tesla fanboy and a bunch of Tesla haters. 

    This should be obvious, but.. Apple will do fine,* Tesla will continue to do great, and continue to completely dominate the EV market. 

    *Apple will do fine in the EV market. Needless to say, Apple will continue to completely dominate the major consumer electronics categories. 

    I cant wait to get the next gen iMac and a Tesla (prob model Y). 
    longpathGeorgeBMacequality72521watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 47
    I’d bet Apple cut ties after the leaks were revealed and accidentally confirmed. Apple isn’t a fan of companies that break NDA’s. Just speculating - but probably not far off the mark.
    longpathwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 47
    How would you like if your premium car say a bmw uses a Honda chassis and framework? Lol this was the gist of the leak... wrap it, paint it, skin it, add leather, carbon fiber and so on - it’s still a Honda... 

    An iphone is an iPhone is an iPhone 100% apple. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 47
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    M68000 said:
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    There is just one little problem with your claim.  EV vehicles are about 1% of the market.  Assuming that these allegedly wonderful EV vehicles ever go mass market, there is plenty of room for market share by many others and not just Tesla or Apple.   Will be interesting long term if EV vehicles are really great for environment and live up to the hype

    It's not "IF"....  That's been firmly settled....
  • Reply 17 of 47
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Xed said:
    M68000 said:
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    There is just one little problem with your claim.  EV vehicles are about 1% of the market.  Assuming that these allegedly wonderful EV vehicles ever go mass market, there is plenty of room for market share by many others and not just Tesla or Apple.   Will be interesting long term if EV vehicles are really great for environment and live up to the hype
    I agree with you, except to say that his comments about how Apple can't just come in without any automobile experience and make a name for itself being just a "little problem." By that measure, Tesla would've never had a chance… and that was the talk every… single… year they were selling cars. Even now I hear how Tesla is going to fail because others offer larger discounts (a fact that is only possible because Tesla has sold so many more EVs than others) and how VW Group, for example, will eat Tesla's lunch as soon as they get serious (which they've been trying to do for a long time).

    For him to say that no one can possibly make a name for themselves in a new market category is foolish, and even more so when you consider he's pushing a company that came from nowhere and didn't have—and still doesn't have—the connections, supply chain, and money to start an automotive company from scratch that Apple has at its disposable.

    Tesla had one thing Apple lacks:   an entrepreneur willing and able to go for it.  An entrepreneur who cares more about the product than the money it pulls in.

    Tim is a great CEO but he's rightly more concerned about avoiding dumb errors than going for it on 4th and 10.
    chemengin1
  • Reply 18 of 47
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    loopless said:
    So much for going to the Apple website and clicking on the AppleCar product section.  I'm sure Elon Musk is laughing harder now than when he became the richest man on the planet.  It's already game over for Apple when it comes to EV sales.  I can understand why Wall Street is going to put most of its money into Tesla rather than Apple.  Big investors are far more excited over EVs than smartphones because share gains will be much higher for Tesla than Apple.  EVs have replaced cloud storage as the low-hanging fruit for making unlimited revenue.  Apple has now missed out on both.  For every Tesla Model S Plaid Plus sold, Apple will have to sell 100 iPhone 13 Pro Max units.  Apple shareholders are not going to be happy with that thought.  Tesla has now secured the necessary investor mindshare to permanently have a P/E of 1400.  Apple will struggle to hold a P/E of 40.  Musk wins again as the CEO with the Midas Touch.
    The problem is that Tesla makes very few cars and only makes a profit from selling carbon credits. They also have some very serious competitors now. VW just sold 121,000 EV’s and many PHEV’s. The ID3 is now the second best selling car in Germany behind the Golf. And Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes, PSA and the Koreans are about to release various EV models. Sell that overvalued Tesla stock now.

    Betting against Elon Musk is a bit like betting against Tom Brady because both have variety of weapons at their disposal and neither likes to lose.
  • Reply 19 of 47
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    marsorry said:
    I’d bet Apple cut ties after the leaks were revealed and accidentally confirmed. Apple isn’t a fan of companies that break NDA’s. Just speculating - but probably not far off the mark.

    Reportedly it was Hyundai who rejected Apple.
    chemengin1
  • Reply 20 of 47
    So talks “fail” with Hyundai and Kia and that’s it for Apple? Pretty sure there will be other avenues to explore...

    And I think we’d all agree, what Apple does brilliantly is disrupt existing markets. In that context, not being first or even close to first in the EV market is an advantage for Apple. 
    watto_cobra
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