For the past few years the rumors regarding Apple cars were circulating on the internet. The rumors went to the extent that Apple might try to acquire Tesla to fast track its entry in this segment, but with the passage of time, all such rumors died down. 

This week Hyundai Motor admitted that the company was having discussions with Apple, regarding development of an electric car. The discussions are in their early stages right now, but at least the cat is out of the box now. This news was released by CNBC yesterday, and after the news, Hyundai Motor shares increased by more than 20%.

It was also revealed that Hyundai was not the only car manufacturer in talks with Apple, and there are other companies also involved in this. Apple is considering outsourcing manufacturing of electric cars as well as batteries.

Hyundai and potentially other car manufacturers are currently reviewing terms and conditions for such long term deals. It was also suggested that the earliest release of Apple could be 2027.

As always Apple denied to comment on this news, and even Hyundai amended its statement and released following statement:

“We’ve been receiving requests of potential cooperation from diverse companies regarding development of autonomous driving EVs, but no decisions have been made as discussions are in early stage.”

Internally this is known as project Titan in Apple, and it seems that this is still in the development stage. A commercially available vehicle could arrive as early as 2024 by few reports or it could also be delayed till 2027. 

This is a totally new market for Apple. In the smartphone segment, Apple ruled the world, especially when it came to profits, but this is an investment heavy industry. It requires heavy investments initially, smaller sale margins, and compliance with safety regulations are constantly changing in this industry. 

Lets see if Apple can disrupt this mature market with established big players. It seems Tesla will get some real competition soon.