Technology monster Apple is near finishing a deal with Hyundai to produce autonomous electric vehicles at Kia’s assembly plant in West Point, as per a media report.
The producer of iPhones would make Apple-branded vehicles of its own design at the Kia factory in Georgia through an agreement manufacturing agreement, CNBC detailed late Wednesday, referring to unnamed sources.
State authorities with direct information on the negotiations said they knew about the chance of an Apple tie-up, however focused on the arrangements had not at this point been finished.
Rick Douglas, a West Point-based representative for Kia, declined to comment on Wednesday night. Marie Hodge Gordon, a representative for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, didn’t promptly react to a request for comment. Kristin Huguet, an Apple representative, additionally didn’t react.
Hyundai, the South Korean organization that possesses its namesake car brand and a minority stake in Kia, started chats with Apple a year ago about making driverless, electric vehicles through an agreement producing arrangement, The Wall Street Journal detailed in January.
Hyundai started the development of the Kia facility in Georgia a year ago to add around 700 new jobs.
Shares of Hyundai and Kia have taken off on information on the potential Apple tie-up, as per news reports. Apple has said it desires to begin creation when 2024 on its driverless cars.
Assembling the purported Apple Car could give Georgia an enormous economic boost in cutting-edge technology.
Georgia is as of now becoming a center for electric vehicles, albeit not really self-driving vehicles. SK Innovation, a South Korean organization, is building a $2.6 billion plant close to Commerce to make batteries for electric vehicles produced by Ford and Volkswagen.
The automotive industry contributes more than $3 billion every year to Georgia’s economy, as indicated by the state Department of Economic Development. The Kia plant is by a long shot Georgia’s greatest auto industry calling card, yet the Peach State flaunts in excess of 200 automotive organizations, including the North American headquarters for Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and PSA Groupe.
Parts providers are dissipated across the state, serving auto plants across the Southeast.