Hyundai, Kia Backslide After Apple Self-Driving Car Talks Die

Hyundai Motor (HYMTF) and Kia Motors (KS) saw their share prices slide Monday after confirming in a regulatory filing that the automakers were not talking to tech giant Apple about a self-driving vehicle.

Hyundai’s shares fell 8% mid-morning Monday, while Kia shares dropped nearly 15%.

In its regulatory filing noted by CNBC, Hyundai said it was “getting requests from multiple companies for cooperation in joint development of autonomous, electric vehicles but nothing has been decided since it’s in early stage.”

It added that it was “not in talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development.”

Kia also made a similar regulatory filing, where it said it was reviewing possible collaborations with “multiple companies overseas” for a self-driving electric vehicle but a final decision had not been made, CNBC reported.

The company also reiterated that it was not in talks with Apple.

The backstep by Hyundai and Kia comes after the two companies issued a news announcement in January, saying that they were in the early stages of talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development.

While the initial statement from the automakers mentioned Apple, a later version from the companies omitted the tech giant, saying, “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.”

The news of the deal was only further spurred by a report from CNBC that suggested that Hyundai and Kia would produce Apple’s self-driving vehicles at the latter’s plant in West Point, Georgia.

Apple had not publicly commented on the tie-up with the South Korean automakers, but Lee Hang-koo, an adviser at Korea Automotive Technology Institute, told Financial Times that “Apple must have been really annoyed by the leak of information in the early stages.

Hang-koo continued by saying that talks between the companies could resume at a later time, “Hyundai will probably be at a disadvantage as it lost some international credibility.”

Shares of Hyundai were trading at $52.10 as of 10:52 a.m. ET, down $4.84, or 8.50%, while shares of Kia were trading at 86,300 Won, down 15,200, or 14.98%.