SEOUL / SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co said it had held initial talks with Apple after Korea Economic Daily TV reported that the two were in talks to cooperate with electric cars and batteries, sending Hyundai shares to increase by 24%.
“Apple and Hyundai are in talks, but they are at an early stage and nothing has been decided,” Hyundai Motor said in a statement. The company did not provide details about the nature of talks with Apple and did not mention whether the cooperation involved electric vehicles.
Apple Inc. declined to comment.
In December, Reuters reported that Apple is moving forward with auto-driving technology and aims to produce a passenger vehicle by 2024 that could include its own revolutionary battery technology.
The two companies are working together on CarPlay, Apple’s software for connecting iPhones to vehicles from a variety of automakers.
Korea Economic Daily TV said Friday that Apple and Hyundai Motor Group are negotiating and expecting companies to develop batteries at either Hyundai plants or its U.S. subsidiary Kia Motors Corp.
Shares of Hyundai Motor rose 23.8% to a seven-year high of 255,000 won ($ 232.56), while auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd jumped nearly 30%.
The wider KOSPI market grew by 1.9% starting with 0132 GMT.
(1 $ = 1,096,500 won)
Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Stephen Nellis; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Gerry Doyle