FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company and Apple Inc. plan to set up a partnership in the field of self-driving electric cars, according to Korea IT News. And recently another media outlet reported that Hyundai Motor and Apple plan to launch a self-driving EV in 2027.
In response to this news, Hyundai Motor announced that it was in early-stage talks with Apple. On Dec. 10, Hyundai Motor declined to comment on the Korea IT News report, reiterating its statement from Dec. 8 that it had received inquiries from various companies interested in collaborating on the development of self-driving EVs. Apple was not available for comment at the time of our publication.
Source: REUTERS
PSR Analysis: Rumors that Apple is considering entering the EV market are already well known. The story is that the company is considering the possibility of focusing mainly on self-driving. The focus has been on which automakers Apple, with its strong brand, would partner with.
Apple’s reasons for developing self-driving EVs are likely to be different from those of automakers. In general, automakers are developing self-driving cars and EVs not only to respond to environmental issues, but also because it is clear that if they do not do so, they will fall behind their competitors and their existing business will not be able to survive.
Apple’s position is different. It will not lose its existing business even if it does not make a self-driving EV, and if it is comfortable with an EV that runs normally and well, it will be able to bring it to market more quickly. So why are they considering self-driving? Perhaps because Apple believes it can improve the user experience in the automotive space, as well as solve societal problems.
Whether or not they partner with Hyundai Motor, in any case, if Apple enters the market, it will need to partner with an automaker. Automobile manufacturing is the culmination of advanced industrial technology and requires extremely high safety performance. It would be difficult for even Apple to accumulate such know-how from scratch, and the consideration will probably be accelerated with Hyundai Motor, which already has sufficient knowledge, at the forefront. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems
