Hyundai said earlier this month it was in preliminary talks with Apple, but quickly clammed up, almost certainly at the behest of Apple. South Korean media said the firms were discussing an electric car and battery assembly deal.
Hyunjoo Jin and Stephen Nellis for Reuters:
Apple has never acknowledged talks with the automaker about building vehicles, and it was unclear whether any such talks are still active. The iPhone maker typically insists on strict secrecy from its potential partners and suppliers about future plans or unreleased products.
In an earnings call on Tuesday in which it reported its best quarterly profit in over three years, Hyundai did not give any updates on talks with Apple or indicate whether they remain active.
“We are agonizing over how to do it, whether it is good to do it or not,” said a Hyundai executive aware of the internal discussions on the tie-up with Apple. “We are not a company which manufactures cars for others. It is not like working with Apple would always produce great results.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hint: You should be crawling over broken glass to work with Apple.
Few details are known about the talks between the two companies. But people close to the discussions say the options considered included Hyundai or Kia acting as a manufacturer for vehicles designed by Apple and sold under its powerful, ubiquitous brand.
Apple and Hyundai first started talks over a car partnership in 2018, when Apple’s effort, known as “Project Titan,” was headed by Alexander Hitzinger, who is now a Volkswagen executive, said a person familiar with the matter. But progress was hampered by the South Korean automaker’s reluctance to work with outsiders, the person said.
These talks have not been previously reported.
“It is really difficult (for Hyundai) to open up,” this person said, adding that the South Korean company would likely to have to replace some executives to avoid a culture clash under any partnership with Apple. “Apple is the boss. They do their marketing, they do their products, they do their brand. Hyundai is also the boss. That does not really work.”
While the talks are at an early stage, Hyundai Motor Group has “tentatively decided” that it would want Kia to partner with Apple, not Hyundai Motor, a Hyundai insider said.
MacDailyNews Take: Look no further than Foxconn and TMSC to see the benefits of working with Apple as a major supplier.