Apple Car, Negotiations with Japan's Nissan Also Fail Due to "Brand Differences"

"Contact Between Both Sides Was Brief and Did Not Progress to Senior Management Level"
Concerns Over Potential Downgrade to Apple’s Subcontractor Status

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Recently, negotiations between Apple and Hyundai-Kia Motors regarding autonomous vehicles have been halted, and talks with Nissan have also failed to make progress and have been suspended.

According to major foreign media on the 15th, Apple and Nissan recently held discussions related to the Apple Car but ultimately stopped. The contact between the two sides was brief, and the discussions reportedly did not advance to the level of senior management. The negotiations broke down due to disagreements over the use of the 'Apple' brand.

In the automotive industry, there have been ongoing concerns that as Apple pushes forward with the Apple Car, car manufacturing partners could be reduced to mere subcontractors simply assembling cars for Apple. It is speculated that they could find themselves in a situation similar to the Taiwanese company Foxconn, which simply assembles Apple's iPhones.

The automotive industry has also suggested that Apple may not be interested in sharing technology with the automotive sector, meaning the desired technological cooperation may not be realized, and partners might remain in a position of merely producing the Apple Car on behalf of Apple.

Earlier, Hyundai Motor and Kia, which had been mentioned as potential manufacturing partners for the Apple Car, stated in a disclosure on the 8th that they are "not in discussions with Apple regarding the production of the Apple Car." At that time, Hyundai and Kia disclosed that "although we have received requests for joint development cooperation related to autonomous electric vehicles from multiple companies, these are at an early stage and no decisions have been made," and "we are not in talks with Apple regarding autonomous vehicle development."

Meanwhile, immediately after this report was released in the afternoon, Nissan's stock price fell sharply by 3.7%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.