According to South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo, Apple plans to invest $3.6 billion in Kia Motors, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, and the two companies will work together to produce Apple Car electric cars, with Kia planning to start production at a plant in Georgia, USA.
Apple invests $3.6 billion in Kia Motors
It is reported that the two companies will likely sign a contract on the 17th of this month, to formally introduce Apple’s first-ever car product at a launch event in 2024. The two parties expect to initially aim to produce 100,000 finished Apple Car vehicles per year, with a maximum capacity of 400,000 vehicles.
Reports of Apple’s expansion into the automotive space have led many analysts to estimate potential manufacturing partners. Back in January, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Apple’s car development efforts were still in the early stages and would take at least five years to launch a self-developed electric vehicle product, suggesting they were in no hurry to make a partnership decision.
Previously there were multiple reports that Apple and Hyundai Motor Group would be working together to build Apple Car cars, and that the Kia brand would be responsible for production. Last month, Korean IT News suggested that the Apple Car could be built at Kia Motors’ plant in Georgia, and today’s rumors reaffirm that rumor.
Yesterday, Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple does plan to work with Hyundai and will use Hyundai’s E-GMP electric vehicle platform as its first car chassis. Also, using Kia’s U.S. plant for production.
Kuo said the Apple Car is positioned very high end and will be available as early as 2025. If Apple intends to launch an Apple Car product before that time, the remaining time is already very tight. So the launch could be further delayed.
