Hyundai & Apple to Partner on Autonomous Electric Car Production

Hyundai and Apple plan to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars by March and start production around 2024, Korea IT News reported.

Hyundai Motor prior mention that it was in talks with Apple after another local media outlet said the companies aimed to launch a self-driving electric car in 2027, sending Hyundai shares up nearly 20%.

An updated version of the IT news report removed details, including production location and capacity, as well as timeframe for signing the agreement and launching the pilot vehicles at this point, but the previous version said the companies planned to build the cars at Kia Motors' factory in Georgia, or in a new factory in the US to produce 100,000 vehicles around 2024. The full annual capacity of the proposed plant would be 400,000 vehicles.

The report additionally mentioned that Hyundai and Apple planned to release a "beta version" of the Apple cars next year.

Shares in Hyundai Motor rose 14.6% as a response, while affiliate auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis shares rose 12.7% and Kia shares rose 9.1%.

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