SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp said on Monday they are not in talks with Apple Inc on developing autonomous vehicles, sending their shares tumbling.
In early January, Korea Economic Daily TV reported Apple and Hyundai were in discussions to develop self-driving electric vehicles by 2027 and develop batteries at U.S. factories operated by either Hyundai or its affiliate Kia Corp.
Shares of Hyundai and Kia were trading down 6.8% and 13.6% respectively as of 1216 GMT versus the broader market KOSPI’s 0.6% drop.
So far this year, Hyundai has advanced 30%, while Kia has rallied 63% on reports they may build Apple car. Apple has never acknowledged talks with the automaker about building vehicles.
Reuters reported in December that Apple was moving forward with autonomous car technology and aimed to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Lincoln Feast.)
