SEOUL (Reuters) – Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s Waymo is in talks with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (OTC:) to outsource manufacturing of its self-driving automobiles, South Korean newspaper, Digital Occasions, reported.
Officers at Waymo and Hyundai Motor have met greater than thrice to debate a plan to make use of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 electrical automobiles for Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving know-how, the report mentioned, including that the plan consists of changing choices from China’s Zeekr with the Ioniq 5 fashions.
The report got here as President Joe Biden’s administration final week locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese language imports, together with a 100% obligation on electrical automobiles, which is able to take impact on Sept. 27.
Relating to the media report, Waymo mentioned in an announcement to Reuters: “We’ll decline to comment on speculation, but I can share that we are hard at work validating the 6th-generation Waymo Driver on the Zeekr platform and intend to introduce it into our fleet when ready.”
Zeekr mentioned: “There is no change to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo,” including that they’re “actively working together to deploy the vehicles.”
Hyundai Motor Group mentioned: “nothing is determined at this stage about new businesses,” referring to its plan to promote its automobile platform to self-driving know-how corporations.
Motional, a self-driving know-how unit of Hyundai Motor Group, earlier this yr delayed plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-generation Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis till 2026 because it laid off lots of of staff in the US, TechCrunch reported in Might.
Waymo has bought automobiles from Stellantis (NYSE:) and Jaguar Land Rover and built-in its know-how into the bottom automobiles to supply autonomous ride-hailing providers in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo can be testing its next-generation self-driving automotive know-how utilizing automobiles from Zeekr, the electrical automotive model of China’s Geely Vehicle Holdings (OTC:).
Alphabet mentioned in July that it deliberate a $5 billion funding in Waymo over a multi-year interval, as the corporate is increasing its autonomous ride-hailing service areas.
