Apple Car Could Be Made By KIA In The US

It seems accelerated progress has been made regarding the development of an automobile by smartphone and fashionable consumer electronics giant Apple. 

Various reports and sources have claimed that the Hyundai Motor Group and Apple are close to finalising a deal that could see the American company inject a whopping USD3.6 billion into the joint venture.

Hyundai Motor Group is rumoured to provide the basic vehicle structure and manufacture it in its KIA facility located in Georgia, USA. Apple wants control of the software and features of the vehicle.

Apple is also keen on making their “iPhone of cars” fully autonomous or self-driving, which means it is not happening so soon, rather, at least three years from today due to the lack of specific regulations. That timeline only holds if Apple is indeed signing an agreement with an automaker in the short term.

However, some reports highlight Hyundai Motor Group’s uneasiness over the joint venture, as they are effectively a mere contract assembler and competing with themselves (Hyundai and KIA vehicles).

Hyundai Motor Group recently launched its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) that will form the basis of future vehicles, ranging from compacts to medium-sized crossovers. 

What about Tesla, the home-grown electric car company that is seeing better days recently. Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, tweeted in December that he reached out about a possibility of Apple taking over Tesla, but Apple CEO Tim Cook declined that meeting.

Hyundai Motor Group is expected to commence sales of their Ioniq 5 fully-electric crossover within this year, joined by a sedan next year and a larger crossover in 2024.

Tesla meanwhile has four models in its line-up, two sedans and two crossovers readily on sale, and the peculiar-looking Cybertruck pick-up planned for the end of this year.