According to a report by local newspaper Korea IT News, Hyundai Motor is in talks with

 

Apple to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars by March this year and

 

commence production around 2024 in the United States.

 

The report includes a statement from Hyundai Motor that it was in early talks with Apple,

 

after another local media outlet reported that both the companies are planning to launch a

 

self-driving electric car in 2027, thus taking the shares of Hyundai to 20%. Following

 

Hyundai’s announcement, its valuation rose by £6.5bn (around Rs 6,478,47 crore).

 

The news of this potential collaboration comes just a few weeks after Apple decided to make

 

its own EVs, a concept that has been labeled as Project Titan and has been in news since

 

2014. According to a Reuters report of last month, Apple was planning to move forward with

 

autonomous car technology and was aiming to produce a passenger vehicle that could include

 

its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.

 

Hyundai Motor and Apple have not divulged any concrete information about the

 

collaboration. However, there is also some uncertainty over this potential collaboration, as

 

Hyundai has stated that many companies have reached out to it for potential collaboration on

 

manufacturing autonomous EVs.

 

If some industry sources are to be believed, the two companies are planning to build the cars

 

at Kia Motors’  factory in Georgia, or jointly invest in a new factory in the United States, with

 

an aim to manufacture 100,000 vehicles in 2024 at the proposed plant with an annual capacity

 

of 400,000 vehicles. It should also be noted that Kia Motors is an affiliate of Hyundai

 

Motors.

 

It is also being said that Hyundai and Apple may release a “beta version” of Apple cars in

 

2021. Both Hyundai Motor and Apple have refused to make any immediate comment on this

 

potential collaboration.

 

Also Read: The Rise Of The Electric Cars