Apple in Talks With Hyundai About Automobile Ambitions, Car Maker Claims

SEOUL— Apple Inc. has held talks with Hyundai Motor Co. about cooperation on driverless, electric powered vehicles, the South Korean auto huge stated.

The temporary assertion, which despatched Hyundai’s shares soaring early Friday in Seoul, included no particulars and stated talks were being preliminary but offered unusual community affirmation of Apple’s car or truck-associated endeavours. The Apple iphone maker has been doing work secretly on the car or truck project in fits and begins for a lot more than 6 decades, even though watching the achievements of Silicon Valley’s Tesla Inc. ignite desire in electric powered autos.

In modern months, Apple has achieved out to suppliers about the chance of executing its very own auto, potentially beginning output as soon as 2024, a man or woman acquainted with the matter reported final month. Apple shelved an earlier effort and hard work to acquire its possess motor vehicle a handful of decades ago to focus on driverless automobile technological innovation.

Apple declined to remark.

Hyundai, in saying Friday that it has held conversations with Apple, claimed that “as it is at [an] early stage, almost nothing has been resolved.” In a later on statement submitted with Korean securities regulators, Hyundai mentioned it experienced fielded requests of probable cooperation on electric autos from various providers. Hyundai, with affiliate Kia Motors Corp. , ranks amid the world’s most significant car makers by sales.