Apple’s Electric-Vehicle Talks With Hyundai Break Down
The tech giant began seeking potential automotive partners late last year.
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Apple Inc.’s talks with Hyundai Motor Group have broken down without an agreement for the South Korean auto giant to assemble vehicles for the iPhone company, Hyundai affiliates said Monday.
In regulatory filings, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. said they are “not in talks with Apple over developing an autonomous vehicle.” The two auto makers have fielded multiple requests from other firms to jointly develop autonomous electric vehicles, though no initial steps have been determined, according to the regulatory filings.
The companies had held talks with the Cupertino, Calif. technology giant about a deal for Hyundai subsidiary Kia to build vehicles for Apple in Georgia, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The prospect of an auto partnership had sent the Korean companies’ stocks soaring this year, igniting investor enthusiasm after both Kia and Hyundai had suffered years of slumping car sales.
Shares sank 6% for Hyundai Motor following Monday’s regulatory-filing disclosures, while Kia plunged by more than 13%.
Apple began seeking potential automotive partners late last year as it considers whether it can begin production of a vehicle as soon as 2024. In a rare move for a potential Apple partner, Hyundai in January said it was talking to Apple about a potential cooperation around electric, driverless vehicles. No sooner than it had said so, Seoul-based Hyundai tried to backtrack on the statement.
Kia had begun reaching out to potential partners in recent weeks about making an electric car for the iPhone maker, even without a deal having been locked down, the Journal previously reported.
Apple has flirted with other automotive companies over the years, but without reaching a partnership. Word of its secret car program broke in 2015, stoking excitement for the potential of what new possibilities Apple might bring to the auto market. The interest raised fears among traditional car makers that they’d soon be surpassed—like Nokia Corp. or BlackBerry Ltd. had been after the iPhone’s debut in 2007.
Instead, Apple’s auto effort has been largely unrealized as it has struggled to decide which path it will choose. It has gone through different leadership and approaches since beginning in 2014.
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Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
After appeals to cashed-up Australians to stop spending, there’s a little inflationary relief in sight
2 min
The rate of inflation in Australia has fallen to 4.9 percent, according to data from the Consumer Price Index. Inflation is down from 5.6 percent in September and a peak of 8.4 percent in December 2022.
The housing, transport and food and non-alcoholic beverages sectors were the strongest contributors to the October increase, which is consistent with trends shown in ABS data from September.
“CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables, and Holiday travel,” said acting head of price statistics at the ABS, Leigh Merrington. “It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation.”
Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose from 4.7 percent in September to 5.3 percent in the 12 months to October, driven by the rising prices of melons and bananas.
In good news for would-be home builders, new dwelling prices rose 4.7 percent, the lowest annual rise since August 2021, as a result of easing material supply conditions.
While the ABS noted that electricity prices rose 10.1 percent in the year to October, Mr Merrington said it could have been worse, if not for the introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund.
“Electricity prices have risen 8.4 per cent since June 2023. Excluding the rebates, Electricity prices would have increased 18.8 per cent over this period,” Mr Merrington said.
The inflation figures come ahead of the final meeting for the year of the RBA Board next Tuesday. The board raised the cash rate by 25 basis points at the November meeting following an increase in the rate of inflation in September.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
