Hyundai Motor Group he denied, several days later, the latest journalistic rumors that gave the subsidiary Kia close to an agreement with Apple for the production of iCar at the American plant in Georgia. The two titles of the brands of the Korean giant had meanwhile gained a lot on the market. The Olympic calm of the times of correction leaves room for some doubts. And, in fact, also the terms of the same, but it must be considered that the group had to comply with the provisions of the stock exchange authorities, which requires transparency and requires investors to update the rumors, even more so on those that lead to significant fluctuations in the value of the shares.
The latest rumors spoke of a close agreement between Kia and Apple for the production of driverless electric cars. “With Apple we are not talking about the development of self-driving cars”, reads the note from the Hyundai group, which therefore does not exclude the assembly of the future model. Investors made no semantic distinctions and Kia’s shares fell 15%, while Hyundai’s 6%. In terms of capitalization, the intervention cost a total of 8.5 billion dollars. Apple, as usual, has chosen silence, avoiding confirmations and denials.
The indiscretions of December had been supported by the Korean giant, which had given the comparison with Apple, without actually specifying the subject of the negotiation. Then came further speculations, even on the dates of the agreement, given as early as possible for the middle of February (by 17).
Apparently, there would be resistance within the Asian leader regarding the hypothesis of producing under license: between assembling “on behalf of” and jointly developing there is indeed a big difference. And Hyundai’s correction categorically excludes the second aspect. According to Business Insider, Apple would also have hired a former manager of Porsche, Manfred Harrer, to take care of the vehicle: in Zuffenhausen he was responsible for the chassis. It is not excluded that Cupertino may also have been annoyed by the various leaks.
The Korean group reiterates that it continues to receive requests for joint venture cooperation for the development of self-driving electric vehicles from various companies. “But – reports Hyundai Motor Group – we are at the initial steps and nothing has been decided”.
