SEOUL — South Korean automaker Kia Motors said on Wednesday it's reviewing cooperation on self-driving electric cars with multiple foreign firms, making no mention of a report linking it to a project with tech giant Apple Inc.

Kia's comment, issued in a regulatory filing as its shares surged nearly 20% in Seoul, came after domestic online publication Edaily reported late on Tuesday that Kia's parent, Hyundai Motor Group, had decided Kia would be in charge of proposed cooperation with Apple on electric cars. The report cited unnamed industry sources.

Hyundai Motor declined to comment. Apple was not immediately available for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

Kia's sister company Hyundai Motor said earlier this month it was in early talks with Apple, after local media reported the firms were discussing an electric car and battery-tie up, sending Hyundai shares up nearly 25%. Apple declined to comment at the time.

In December, Reuters reported that Apple was moving forward with self-driving car technology and was aiming to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.

Shares in Kia were up 7%, while shares in Hyundai Motor were down 2.7% of 0140 GMT, compared to a 0.3% fall in the wider market.

At one point, Apple working together with Hyundai on the Apple Car seemed like a match made in heaven, especially because the South Koreans ticked all the boxes when it came to building such a critical product for the future of the Cupertino-based tech giant.
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But one box it didn’t tick concerned the way it must handle confidential information, as Hyundai’s excitement on the partnership could now cost the entire collaboration with Apple.

In other words, Apple has decided to suspend the Apple Car production negotiations with Hyundai due to the South Koreans spilling the beans on the project way too early.

Apple is known as a company obsessed with keeping everything secret and prevent leaks about critical products, so back in January when Hyundai confirmed it was in talks with the iPhone maker over the production of an electric vehicle, Cupertino’s head honchos had clearly been taken by surprise.

And a new report reveals CEO Tim Cook and the other executives have recently decided to pause the talks with Hyundai just because they are upset over how Hyundai handled the whole thing. And the really bad news for Hyundai is that Apple is now said to be discussing with other automakers, though it’s believed it’d be rather difficult for the company to find another carmaker with local production capacity and willing to build the Apple Car.

In the meantime, it’s not yet known if Apple plans to resume the talks with Hyundai, but a recent report indicated the company would be ready to invest no less than $3.6 billion in Kia Motors in order to manufacture the EV at its plant in Georgia.

Whether or not Apple comes to terms with Hyundai on this apparently unintentional confidential information disclosure is something that remains to be seen, but at the end of the day, the two might actually have no other option than to do it anyway. Apple needs Hyundai, especially given finding another partner to produce the Apple Car could end up becoming quite a challenge, even for a company as powerful as Apple.

The courtship between Apple and Hyundai’s Kia to build an Apple car seems to be progressing nicely. According to a report by CNBC, the two companies are close to finalizing a deal that would have Kia building an electric, autonomous Apple vehicle at a Kia assembly plant in West Point, Georgia.

According to CNBC’s sources, the deal hinges on Apple being in control of both the software and hardware of the vehicle. In other words, it would not be a Kia or Hyundai with Apple technology but would instead be an Apple vehicle that’s built by the Korean automaker in the United States under Apple’s direction.
This is the same situation that Apple and other hardware tech companies have had with manufacturers for decades. For example, Apple’s iPhone is designed by Apple but built by manufacturing partners including Foxconn. The vehicle is tentatively scheduled to go into production in 2024.

Still, if Apple does team up with Kia, it could use Hyundai’s recently announced E-GMP EV platform as the base for any electric vehicle it decides to build. That could negate the need for Apple to come up with its own battery system. Hyundai and Kia plan to have 23 global EVs by 2025.
For those hoping to get their hands on their very own Apple car, the report brings some bad news. The vehicle is reportedly said to be built without a driver’s seat or controls. Sources told CNBC that Apple wants an electric, autonomous vehicle to hop on the mobility trend. You might not be able to buy an Apple vehicle, but you could hail one for an autonomous trip around town.

While a deal is reportedly close to being completed, there’s still the chance that Apple could change its mind and go with another automaker or even just pull back from the automotive world and work on its Apple car in secret for a few more years before entering the field.

Shares of Hyundai and Kia plunged on Monday in Seoul after the automakers said they were not in talks with Apple to develop self-driving cars after all.

"We are not having talks with Apple about developing self-driving cars," Hyundai said in a statement.

The statement added that Hyundai has received requests from "numerous companies" about developing self-driving electric cars, but that "no decision has been made as we are in the beginning stage."

Kia Motors, which is owned by Hyundai, referred CNN Business to its parent company's statement.

Apple declined to comment.

The announcement jolted investors who had been betting on some kind of tie-up between the companies based on weeks of speculation and local news reports. Kia's stock plummeted 13%, putting it on track for its worst day since 2008. Hyundai's stock fell 5.6%.

News media in the country reported just last week that Kia was closing in on a major deal with Apple for a partnership to build a new vehicle, sending Kia's stock to its best day in more than two decades.

And last month, Hyundai was reported to be in discussions with the iPhone maker to develop electric cars. The news at the time propelled Hyundai's shares, also to their best day in at least two decades.

Interest from Apple in South Korea's automakers made sense. Analysts have pointed out that Hyundai has been open to joining forces with other companies and even tech firms; it already has partnerships with with Chinese search giant Baidu and US chipmaker Nvidia on autonomous driving, for example.

The automaker has also already made significant strides on next-generation vehicles, including hydrogen fuel-cell cars and an electric vehicle manufacturing platform it unveiled in December.

But Apple may also choose to enter multiple partnerships, with analysts floating other major carmakers such as Honda, Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover and Geely, the Chinese owner of Volvo, as potential options.

Despite gigantic flops and questionable business practices, Apple is a trillion-dollar company with huge ambitions. Not content with the commercial success of the iPhone and Intel-beating chips based on the ARM architecture, the Cupertino-based giant is eyeing the automotive industry with Project Titan.
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Better known as the Apple Car, the autonomous EV was reportedly approved by Tim Cook in 2014 with vice president Steve Zadesky at the helm. Fast forward to 2021, and South Korean media reported that Hyundai would build the vehicle at the Kia production plant in West Point, Georgia.

Hyundai confirmed that it’s collaborating with Apple only recently, then denied the collaboration because the iPhone maker doesn’t like this kind of information out in the open. The most recent development on the subject comes from CNN, which cites various analysts on contract manufacturing.

“A deal that does not include the sharing of technology, and close collaboration on future products, would leave the carmaker in a situation akin to that of Pegatron and Foxconn,” writes the cited publication. In other words, very successful automakers such as VW may not fit the bill.

“Smaller automakers that aren't able to invest as heavily in electric and autonomous technology may be more open to a partnership with Apple,” highlights CNN, which gives four names in this regard. In no particular order, potential manufacturers include Honda, Nissan, BMW, and Stellantis, the automaker formed from the merger between FCA and PSA.

However, there is a joker card that Apple may use in order to sidestep the biggest players in the automotive industry. That dark horse is Magna Steyr, a contract manufacturer that currently develops its own EV platform.

Magna Steyr has already signed a deal with Fisker Inc. to supply the electric vehicle architecture and production site for the Ocean electric SUV, which is due in 2022 as a 2023 model. The Apple Car, by comparison, is rumored to enter production in 2024 as a 2025 model, according to the latest reports.

The work on Apple’s first electric vehicle is still underway. According to people familiar with the matter, the project is already in an advanced stage where the Cupertino-based tech behemoth needs to find a partner to handle the manufacturing process.
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After failed talks with several traditional car companies, including Hyundai and Nissan, it looks like Apple has found someone to build its Apple Car.

While most people would have expected Foxconn, the number one iPhone assembly partner, to handle the EV production, a recent report citing people familiar with the matter reveals Apple is close to signing a deal with a new joint venture formed by LG Electronics and Magna International.

Only a few details are available right now, but it looks like LG would control 51 percent of the JV, while Magna would be in charge of the other 49 percent.

The discussions are still underway, but a decision should be made sooner rather than later, with the joint venture projected to be ready by July this year. The JV was originally announced in December last year.

At some level, Apple working together with LG makes total sense for two different reasons. First of all, Apple and the South Korean firm have already collaborated on the production of essential iPhone parts. In theory, LG is already included in the company’s partner network, which means it can easily meet its high standards and production requirements.

And second of all, LG has recently abandoned its mobile business, choosing instead to focus on other industry sectors, including EV parts. So working with Apple would help the company expand in this regard, especially as the Apple Car is seen as a pioneer in the EV world from a tech perspective.

According to the cited report, the first Apple Car prototype built by the LG-Magna joint venture is projected to see the daylight in 2024 at the earliest. That means the production-ready model should be finalized in 2025 or even later.

Apple Inc. has hired Ulrich Kranz, a former senior executive at BMW AG’s electric car division, to help lead its own vehicle efforts, according to people familiar with the situation.

The technology giant hired Kranz in recent weeks, about a month after he stepped down as chief executive officer of Canoo Inc., a developer of self-driving electric vehicles. Before co-founding Canoo, Kranz was senior vice president of the group that developed the i3 and i8 cars at BMW, where he worked for 30 years.

Kranz is one of Apple’s most significant automotive hires, a clear sign that the iPhone maker is determined to build a self-driving electric car to rival Tesla Inc. and other carmakers. Kranz will report to Doug Field, who led development of Tesla’s mass-market Model 3 and now runs Apple’s car project, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter.

Apple has become the world’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of more than $2 trillion, by selling iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Macs and services. With investors and customers clamoring for new products, the company has targeted cars and augmented-reality headsets. An Apple spokesperson confirmed Kranz’s hiring.

Apple began developing a vehicle in 2014 but shelved the effort around 2016 to focus on an autonomous platform it could sell to other companies or eventually use itself. Along the way, Apple poached several Tesla executives, who now help head up drive-train engineering, self-driving software and interiors and exteriors.

Last year, Apple gave oversight of the operation to John Giannandrea, senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence and Field’s boss. Several months ago, Apple rebooted its efforts to develop a full-fledged electric car, but development remains in the early stages, so a launch is likely at least five years away.

Before hiring Kranz, Apple lost some key auto executives. Benjamin Lyon, Jaime Waydo and Dave Scott, who worked on engineering, safety systems and robotics, respectively, all departed in recent months. It’s unclear why the three left.

Following successful stints at BMW’s Mini division and teams working on sports cars and SUVs, Kranz was asked to run Project I, a battery-powered vehicle skunkworks started in 2008. It yielded the all-electric i3 compact and the plug-in hybrid i8 sports car.

Kranz left BMW in 2016 and soon became chief technology officer at Faraday Future, an electric vehicle startup based in Los Angeles. He stayed only three months, before co-founding Canoo. Both firms have struggled with their technology and ability to produce vehicles, while Canoo reportedly discussed selling itself to Apple and other companies.

Canoo went public in December after a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. Canoo last month said it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, becoming the third clean-energy auto startup to disclose a federal probe in the past year. Canoo plans to debut a minivan for less than $35,000 next year.

Apple has worked with BMW for many years, integrating the iPod with auto infotainment systems back in 2004 and more recently making the iPhone double as a car key. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook was spotted checking out a BMW i8 outside Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters in 2014, and company executives have been known to visit BMW offices in recent years.

While Apple has remained completely tight-lipped on its long-term plans, everybody knows the Cupertino-based tech giant is working on a car. According to people familiar with the matter, it could enter the production stage in 2023, with a final ETA of 2024 or 2025.
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And while the iPhone maker doesn’t say a single thing about its ambitious car project, designers out there know exactly what this revolutionary vehicle is supposed to look like.

Ashish Gogte is one of them, as his latest project envisions a so-called Apple iCar that perfectly aligns with the design language currently available on the rest of the products launched by the American company.

But one important feature of this proposed iCar is the support for swappable drives.

“The main idea is to have a modular driver system where the front/rear wheel assembly can be swapped with a new one. The drivetrain can be quickly swapped once the battery is about to run out. The interchangeable drive can be upgraded for power, different cosmetic, or just an updated version if required,” the designer says.

Whatever idea Apple ends up using, the Apple Car is expected to be a hi-tech product anyway. The company has invested aggressively in new technology, some of which made the headlines recently thanks to patent filings, including Lidar systems supposed to power self-driving capabilities.

People with knowledge of the discussions said Apple is currently in talks with a new joint venture formed by Magna and LG to produce its EV. A decision, however, is expected by the summer.

Earlier this year, it was rumored that an Apple Car prototype could be created in 2022, though there’s a good chance the Cupertino-based tech giant will try to keep everything away from our eyes and ears. For the time being, however, the Apple Car is still an unconfirmed project, so you’d better not hold your breath for it.

Apple, bolstering its car-development efforts, hired a former engineer from Tesla who drew controversy this year for remarks about that company’s Autopilot feature.

The iPhone maker tapped Christopher “CJ” Moore for its team working on a self-driving car, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Moore is working on the effort’s software, reporting to Stuart Bowers, another former Tesla executive who joined Apple at the end of last year. Bowers had led Tesla’s Autopilot team before departing in mid-2019.

The move suggests Apple is plowing ahead with attempts to develop self-driving technology, a high-stakes race with automakers such as Tesla. Moore is joining a division known for its secrecy -- Apple has never publicly laid out its car plans -- and frequent turnover. The head of Apple’s car project, codenamed Titan, departed the company earlier this year to lead technology efforts at Ford.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, declined to comment.

At Tesla, Moore implied that Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk had overstated the capabilities of the Autopilot software. Earlier this year, California Department of Motor Vehicles officials interviewed Moore as part of investigations into the self-driving software. The department asked Moore about Musk claiming that Teslas would be capable of fully autonomous driving this year.

Moore signaled in response that Musk’s statements didn’t “match engineering reality,” according to a DMV memo summarizing the conversation. For many years, Musk has said he believes Tesla is close to releasing so-called Level 5 autonomy features, which would mean the cars can operate without human intervention. The current system, known as Level 2, requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.

Recently, a lawsuit brought by the estate of a Florida man who died in a 2019 crash while using Autopilot is seeking to call Moore as a witness. Legal documents related to the case revealed in October that Moore had left Tesla.

Apple recently replaced the former project head, Doug Field, with Kevin Lynch, who led software engineering for the Apple Watch from the product’s infancy. It has also hired other major names from the automotive world, including Urlich Kranz, the former CEO of autonomous car startup Canoo.

The Apple team has other ex-Tesla executives, including the company’s former drive trains chief Michael Schwekutsch and interiors head Steve MacManus. At the same time, the group has lost several managers. Besides Field, this year’s departures include head of robotics Dave Scott and chief of safety Jaime Waydo. Another former manager for the effort, Dave Rosenthal, recently left Apple after earlier departing the project.

Apple has scaled back ambitious self-driving plans for its future electric vehicle and postponed the car’s target launch date by about a year to 2026, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The car project, dubbed Titan inside the company, has been in limbo for the past several months as Apple executives grappled with the reality that its vision for a fully autonomous vehicle — without a steering wheel or pedals — isn’t feasible with current technology.

In a significant shift for the project, the company is now planning a less-ambitious design that will include a steering wheel and pedals and only support full autonomous capabilities on highways, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

The latest changes underscore the challenge Apple faces in pushing into an entirely new product category and taking on technological obstacles that have bedeviled some of the world’s biggest companies. The secretive project, underway for years, is meant to provide Apple with another major moneymaker, but it also could test the limits of the iPhone maker’s capabilities.

Apple currently plans to develop a vehicle that lets drivers conduct other tasks — say, watch a movie or play a game — on a freeway and be alerted with ample time to switch over to manual control if they reach city streets or encounter inclement weather. The company has discussed launching the feature in North America initially and then improving and expanding it over time.

A spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

Apple shares, already down about 2% on Tuesday, dipped to a session low after Bloomberg News reported on the changes. They’ve declined 19% this year, though that’s a better performance than most stocks in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index.

Apple’s previous vision for the car was to offer “Level 5” autonomy — the pinnacle of self-driving technology, which no automaker has attained. The current plan is considered below that because of its more limited scope.

It’s the latest strategy shift for the Apple car team, which has faced turnover in its executive ranks ever since its inception a decade ago. Current leader Kevin Lynch has aimed to bring more stability and a focus on practical goals after years of priority changes and even some layoffs.

Lynch, who also is in charge of the Apple Watch operating system and health software, took over at the end of 2021. He initially instructed the team working on the car, known as the Special Projects Group, to focus on a fully autonomous vehicle for a debut by 2025. Now he’s dialing back those expectations, but with the goal of ensuring that a product actually reaches the market.

The heart of Apple’s technology is a powerful onboard computer system — codenamed Denali after the tallest mountain peak in North America — and a custom array of sensors. The processor’s performance is equal to about four of Apple’s highest-end Mac chips combined and is being developed by the company’s silicon engineering group. The chip has reached an advanced state and is considered nearly production-ready, though Apple may scale it down before the car’s launch to lower costs.

Having an onboard computer to handle automated tasks is similar to an approach used by other carmakers, including Tesla Inc. Apple, however, plans to differ from Tesla by using a combination of lidar and radar sensors, along with cameras. The setup helps the car determine its location, see driving lanes, and assess how far it is from other objects and people. Tesla relies on cameras, while Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and others use a combination.

In addition to the onboard hardware, the system has a cloud-based component for some artificial-intelligence processing. Apple is relying on Amazon Web Services for hosting, costing the iPhone maker about $125 million per year. But that’s just a sliver of the roughly $1 billion the company is spending on the car project annually.

Apple is exploring the idea of a remote command center to assist drivers and control cars from afar during emergencies. The company is also discussing offering its own insurance program to customers.

Apple had expected each car to sell for more than $120,000, but the company is now aiming to offer the vehicle to consumers for less than $100,000, according to the people. That would put it in roughly the same price range as the entry-level version of the Model S from Tesla and the EQS from Mercedes-Benz.

Apple hasn’t yet settled on a design for its car and the vehicle is considered to be in the “pre-prototype” stage. The company is aiming to ready the design by next year and have the features set by the end of 2024. It then plans to put the car through extensive testing in 2025.

Apple had previously discussed launching a car that looks similar to Canoo Inc.’s Lifestyle Vehicle. The idea was to have a limousine-like interior where passengers could face each other. Now the plan is to produce something more like a traditional car, with a driver’s seat.

The company has held discussions with a number of suppliers about obtaining an electric-vehicle platform, known in the industry as a “skateboard,” but it’s still seeking a partner. Apple earlier talked to several companies about licensing their platforms, but the only serious negotiations occurred with Volkswagen AG several years ago. EV platforms include the underlying base of the car, the wheel system and battery.

The design of the car is being led by Ulrich Kranz, the ex-chief executive officer of Canoo, as well as former managers from Tesla, Lamborghini and Porsche. The software side of the system is led by former Tesla manager Stuart Bowers, while safety engineering, testing and regulatory matters are handled by ex-Ford Motor Co. executive Desi Ujkashevic.

The Apple car organization, made up of about 1,000 employees, is split across campuses in Sunnyvale, California; Ottawa; Zurich; and Arizona. Much of the underlying engineering work, industrial design and software development is done in Sunnyvale, while parts of the car’s future operating system are developed in Ottawa, an area where the company poached workers from BlackBerry’s QNX, a longtime maker of car software, in 2016.

The company’s team in Zurich is developing a tool known as “Rocket Score” that grades the vehicle’s autonomous system. That core team faced a setback earlier this year when Ian Goodfellow, a prominent developer of AI technology who helped lead the group, left Apple after complaining about its work-from-home policies.

Much of the testing work for the car is done at a former Chrysler track outside of Phoenix. The testing area, codenamed “Sahara,” was purchased by a business representing Apple in 2021 for $125 million. The company also continues to test its driving system on Lexus SUVs deployed in several states. Those cars, known internally as “Baja” vehicles, get their onboard systems refreshed every 6 to 12 months.

In Silicon Valley, Apple is aiming to consolidate several of its car teams in a new campus by the San Jose airport known as Orchard Parkway. The property will have about half a million square feet of space and may also house other Apple teams. The company bought the campus around 2015 and kicked off construction last year.

Valued 2.82 trillion dollars, the second-largest company in the world by market capitalization has reportedly canceled Project Titan. Better known as the Apple Car, said venture dates back to 2014.

Heaven knows how many billions of dollars later, Bloomberg reports that Apple canned Project Titan. The cited publication understands from people in the know that two of the Cupertino giant's high-ranking execs disclosed the bad news. A public announcement has yet to be made. Bloomberg further states that nearly 2,000 employees will switch to generative AI projects, generative AI meaning artificial intelligence focused on creating new content.

In simple terms, generative AI can turn text inputs into an image or a video. The opposite also stands true, and generative AI can also create music. This kind of artificial intelligence is trained to scour the Internet for information in order to create new content. Similarly obvious, generative artificial intelligence cannot provide any content without inputted prompts from humans.

People with inside knowledge of Project Titan stated that chief operating officer Jeff Williams and vice president of technology Kevin Lynch announced the 2,000-odd employees about the project's termination. Said employees are internally referred to as the Special Projects Group (SPG).

The artificial intelligence division is headed by John Giannandrea, whose official role within the company is senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy. Prior to joining the Cupertino-based colossus, he worked for Google.

Bloomberg claims that Project Titan further comprises a few hundred car designers and hardware engineers. Most likely, they will be moved to different roles. The publication also understands that some employees will be unfortunately laid off.

Shrouded in secrecy from the very beginning, Project Titan was confirmed in 2015 by Apple's former senior vice president of the iPod division. According to Tony Fadell, the late Steve Jobs considered building an Apple car back in 2008.

Prior to the yet-unconfirmed cancelation, Apple purportedly delayed the car's launch to 2028. It also reduced self-driving capability from SAE Level 4 to SAE Level 2+, which is hugely disappointing if you remember that Mercedes-Benz AG gained approval for Level 3 autonomy in California and Nevada back in September 2023.

Adding insult to injury, the Xiaomi SU7 was designed with Level 4 autonomy in mind. The Chinese outfit's first-ever automobile is pretty impressive from a performance standpoint as well. Mercedes and BMW veterans James Qiu, Tianyuan Li, and Chris Bangle had a big say in the sedan's design, a battery-electric sedan that clocks 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in 2.78 seconds.

The performance-oriented version is called SU7 Max, whereas the standard rear-wheel-drive specification is listed with a zero to 100-kph time of 5.3 seconds. Benchmarked against the Porsche Taycan, the Speed Ultra Seven entered series production in December 2023 at the BAIC Off-Road Vehicle Co. assembly plant in Beijing, China.