Looking to launch the Apple car in 2024.
Apple and South Korean car manufacturer Kia are preparing to ink a deal worth four trillion won (around $4.6 billion) that will see Kia build Apple’s long-awaited electric vehicle.
Local news site dongA reported details of the planned contract which is expected to hit paper sometime this month.
Under the arrangement, Kia would produce an initial 100,000 cars per year from its plant in the US state of Georgia, according to dongA.
Chairman of the Hyundai Motor Group – which owns Kia – also reportedly met with a senior Apple executive in Singapore last month.
Hyundai has retracted previous statements it made about a possible electric car deal with Apple.
Neither Kia nor Apple have publicly commented on the latest rumours.
Details in this latest story match a recent report that also claimed Apple would start building its cars by 2024 using what an Apple insider said was “next level” battery technology.
Sources speaking to Bloomberg think the Apple car is still in early stages of development and is five years away from production.
Apple’s electric car ambitions, codenamed Project Titan, have long been known despite lack of public acknowledgement from the company.
After posting its first full year profit, Elon Musk’s electric car company Tesla looks to face strong market competition in the coming years as major manufacturers swing away from fossil fuels.
General Motors opened an electric vehicle marketing campaign this week with an ad featuring Will Ferrell that will be played in the advertising blitz that is the upcoming Superbowl.
Extracted from Information Age