Hyundai burned by 'Apple Car' negotiation disclosure walk-backs and reframes

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware
The ending of talks between Apple and Hyundai over potential "Apple Car" production was a very public misstep for the car producer, all caused by its lack of discretion.




Apple's demands for secrecy when it is in talks with suppliers and other partners over long-term projects was reinforced by the Hyundai negotiations. The decision to pause talks between the two companies was reportedly caused by the car maker's failure to keep quiet on the negotiations.

Hyundai "might have learned some lessons through this issue," said HI Investment & Securities head of research Koh Tae-bong to Bloomberg. "Keeping internal discussions internal is important."

In January, Hyundai took the unusual decision to confirm it was in talks with Apple, validating that the reports were underway. Hyundai and subsidiary Kia were then forced to distance themselves from the comments.

While negotiations were ongoing, further reports surfaced claiming Hyundai bosses were "agonizing" over the project. There was the suggestion it would hand the project over to Kia entirely, to minimize any impact to the Hyundai brand from becoming a manufacturer of vehicles for other companies.

Later, Hyundai took the further step to confirm rumors that the talks had stopped. It is unclear if the two companies will continue discussions in the future, but it seems unlikely due to the broken trust.

Hyundai is not the only potential partner for Apple for the "Apple Car," with the iPhone maker putting feelers out in other locations. It has allegedly held talks with car makers in Japan, and there is also interest by UK MPs to bring production to the country.
jahblade
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    This sounds very familiar.  Nvidia made the same mistake.
    qwerty52GG1ronnlolliverargonautjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 35
    MacPro said:
    This sounds very familiar.  Nvidia made the same mistake.

    Yes, obviously by Hyundai they were so happy about the possibility to work with Apple, that they have forgotten to keep their mouth shut.
    Knowing Apple, this is a big and maybe fatally mistake.
    ronnbshankmagman1979lolliverargonautjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 35
    GG1GG1 Posts: 483member
    MacPro said:
    This sounds very familiar.  Nvidia made the same mistake.
    Exactly. If you're not serious about a potential business deal, you don't mention PUBLICLY that you're on the fence about it. Especially concerning Apple.
    ronnlolliverjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 35
    GG1 said:
    MacPro said:
    This sounds very familiar.  Nvidia made the same mistake.
    Exactly. If you're not serious about a potential business deal, you don't mention PUBLICLY that you're on the fence about it. Especially concerning Apple.
    Particularly if, as is likely, there’s an NDA in place. 
    ronnlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 35
    Releasing such an information in breach of secrecy agreements may produce, and it did, a sudden spike in the involved company shares. It therefore may be just a greed matter from C-level management.
    edited February 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 35
    Apple = Fight Club
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 35
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    Hyundai is very lucky this tanked. 

    Apple is working very hard at not making a car.


    prismaticsjahblade
  • Reply 8 of 35
    AB101AB101 Posts: 27member
    Probably a good thing for Hyundai.

    Not really sure they would want to deal with a Tech Tyrsnt like Apple in the log run. They would try to dictate everything which would be quite incredible as they have yet to show anything.

    If Apple are epitome of car manufacturers, they should have no issues building their own car. Why give Apple any help whatsoever?
    prismatics
  • Reply 9 of 35
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    qwerty52 said:
    MacPro said:
    This sounds very familiar.  Nvidia made the same mistake.

    Yes, obviously by Hyundai they were so happy about the possibility to work with Apple, that they have forgotten to keep their mouth shut.
    Knowing Apple, this is a big and maybe fatally mistake.
    You’re assuming that these leaks were unintentional on the part of some Hyundai execs.  We know that not all we’re pleased with the prospect of working with Apple.  This could have been an oblique method of intentionally torpedoing further negotiations.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 35
    It's probably better for Hyundai to not join forces with a partner that will discard them or throw them under the bus at the very next opportunity.
    I think it was a very deliberate strategy by some to blow up the possibility of a deal.
    edited February 2021
  • Reply 11 of 35
    Apple should avoid the uk like the plague. Their car industry is plagued with unions and strikes. 
  • Reply 12 of 35
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    It's probably better for Hyundai to not join forces with a partner that will discard them or throw them under the bus at the very next opportunity.
    I think it was a very deliberate strategy by some to blow up the possibility of a deal.
    On the other hand, it’s probably better for Apple to not join forces with a company that can’t keep a secret or respect their most basic contractual obligations for any length of time (as I’m sure a non-disclosure agreement would have been in place). And it’s best to find these things out before large investments have been made. 
    DogpersonronncharlesatlasGG1lolliverjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 35
    The first rule of Apple Negotiation Club is don’t talk about Apple Negotiation Club. 
    marklarkjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 35
    Apple should avoid the uk like the plague. Their car industry is plagued with unions and strikes. 
    Yes, we must keep the working class powerless. 
    ronnargonautjahbladesphericwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 35
    roakeroake Posts: 809member
    Apple should avoid the uk like the plague. Their car industry is plagued with unions and strikes. 
    Yes, we must keep the working class powerless. 
    True.  We must.
    anantksundaramwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 35
    The first rule of Apple Negotiation Club is don’t talk about Apple Negotiation Club. 
    Sun Microsystems’ Jonathan Schwartz found this out the hard way when he pre-announced an agreement between Sun and Apple to use ZFS as the new filesystem for Mac OS X before Steve Jobs did at WWDC. Jobs killed the announcement and the project as a result.
    GG1argonautwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 35
    I am confused to read all these comments.
    I do not understand why all of you are talking about Hyundai?

    It was about a negotiation between Apple and Kia. 
    Hyundai had a good argument to not make cars for Apple. However, Hyundai forwarded this corporation to Kia.

    You know that the company logo Kia was Kia Motors, but now, the logo only covers Kia without Motors. 

    Kia is no longer a car company, but a mobility company. Mobility means flexibility and open-minded to work with others. 

    Hyundai and Kia already confirmed to check all possibilites with other IT firms.

    We already had detailed information like production in Georgia, investment of $3bil. from Apple, and search of potential partners in the USA etc.

    The contract was leaked. That´s what made Apple upset and made Apple pause the negotiation.

    Kia was closed to sign. It was a completely dummy fault by Hyundai. I would not wonder if executives - who ever - were fired who leaked all these detailed contents to the media. 

    My bet: We will see that the negotiation will continue. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 35
    applguyapplguy Posts: 235member
    The good news for Hyundai is they can now stop agonizing. 
    ravnorodomGG1lolliverjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 35
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,844member
    Apple should avoid the uk like the plague. Their car industry is plagued with unions and strikes. 
    Unions and collective bargaining are great, they're how the working labor class keep a fair playing field w/ the billionaire class. Unions are good for the economy, and when they go away so does the middle-class. It's only the PR campaign of the millionaire & billionaire class that has convinced some of the working class that unions are bad. It's bonkers. 

    Why do you think pro league athletes all have unions? 


    tokyojimulolliverstevedownunderargonautqwerty52jahbladeTRAGsphericwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 35
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    AlanWynn said:
    The first rule of Apple Negotiation Club is don’t talk about Apple Negotiation Club. 
    Sun Microsystems’ Jonathan Schwartz found this out the hard way when he pre-announced an agreement between Sun and Apple to use ZFS as the new filesystem for Mac OS X before Steve Jobs did at WWDC. Jobs killed the announcement and the project as a result.
    His comments may have contributed to Apple not adopting ZFS, but probably weren't the entire reason. It's a long and meandering tale, unlikely we'll be ever have the 'real' story.

    This account might be close, however.

    On the other hand, the Hyundai leaks might have been a big reason this deal didn't happen.
    watto_cobra
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