Hyundai and Apple are jointly developing the electric vehicle
Hyundai Motor and Apple are planning to sign a partnership agreement on self-driving electric cars by March and start production around 2024 in the United States, local newspaper Korea IT News reported on Sunday.
The report comes after a statement issued on Friday by Hyundai Motor Company that it is in early talks with Apple after another local media outlet said that the companies aim to launch an electric self-driving car in 2027, which led Hyundai shares to rise nearly 20 percent.
Hyundai Motor declined to comment on the report released on Sunday and confirmed Friday's statements that it had received requests for potential cooperation from various companies on developing autonomous electric vehicles.
An updated version of the Korea IT News report removed detailed information, including the production location, capacity, and timeframe for signing the agreement and launching the experimental vehicles.
The previous version of the report said: The companies planned to build cars at the Kia Motors plant in Georgia, or jointly invest in a new plant in the United States to produce 100,000 cars around 2024, provided that the total annual capacity of the proposed plant is 400,000 cars.
Kia Motors is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, and the report also said: Hyundai and Apple are planning to launch a test version of Apple's electric car next year.
Reuters reported last month that Apple is pressing ahead with self-driving car technology and aims to produce a passenger car as early as 2024.
Apple might even include its own battery technology that could drastically cut costs and extend driving distance with a single charge.
Apple's car will likely be all-electric, and boast a certain level of semi-autonomous technology to rival Tesla.
A number of rumors surrounding the Apple car have surfaced in recent weeks, with Bloomberg reporting that a group of former Tesla executives has joined the project.
The shares of Hyundai Motor Co. rose 14.6 percent in morning trade Monday, while auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis rose 12.7 percent, and shares of Kia Motors rose 9.1 percent.