Paul Morris on February 28, 2021, 1:21 am

Apple Car Partnership With Kia Still On Cards [Report]

In today’s episode of the ongoing Apple car reality show, a report out of Korea is suggesting that an Apple and Kia partnership is still a possibility.

We have been inundated with Apple Car news over the last few weeks. The internal Apple project has been at the forefront of discussion recently but those discussions have also included speculation surrounding Apple’s partnerships with external companies.

At the time of writing, the story goes a little like this; Apple and Kia signed contracts during 2020 that agreed that both companies would pursue a number of avenues together. Which, of course, included working on electric vehicles. Then, Hyundai released a public statement confirming that Apple was in talks with the company over the development of an electric vehicle. This, of course, angered Apple. Hyundai and Kia – the latter being a subsidiary of Hyundai – then posted regularly filings saying that they are not in partnership with Apple.

Phew; let all of that sink in.

Now, according to this latest report, the ongoing talks between Apple and Kia regarding a partnership involving autonomous electric vehicles are “experiencing difficulties” but are not entirely dead in the water. The sensible approach for Apple is to continue to talk to multiple different companies about its internal Car project. Kia’s vehicles have become globally respected in the last five years due to huge improvements in quality and safety. A partnership between two such companies, which both focus predominantly on quality, would likely result in a stunning vehicle.

With that said, the report also suggests that Apple and Kia could ultimately end up partnering on a smaller project, as per the initial memorandum of understanding signed in 2020.

Whatever happens, it will be a long time before any interested consumers see anything tangible. Current estimations suggest that Apple won’t actually be releasing anything until 2025 at the earliest.

(Source: Chosun Biz, Via: Reuters)