SEOUL, Sept 19 (Askume) – Alphabet’s Waymo (GOOGL.O) is in talks with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) about outsourcing the manufacturing of its self-driving cars, South Korea’s Electronic Times reported.
According to the report, Waymo and Hyundai executives have met more than three times to discuss Waymo’s plan to use Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicle as its sixth-generation autonomous driving technology. The plan also includes replacing China’s Zeekr product with the Ionic 5 model.
The report comes after President Joe Biden’s administration sharply increased tariffs on Chinese imports last week , including a 100% tariff on electric vehicles that will take effect Sept. 27.
In response to the media reports, Waymo said in a statement to Askume: “We decline to comment on speculation, but I can tell you that we are working hard to validate the 6th generation Waymo driver on the Zeekr platform and intend to add it to our fleet when it is ready.
“Zeeker’s partnership with Waymo hasn’t changed,” Zeeker said, adding that they are “actively working together to deploy these vehicles.”
“The new business has not yet been determined at this stage,” Hyundai Motor Group said, referring to plans to sell its vehicle platforms to self-driving technology companies.
Motional, the self-driving technology arm of Hyundai Motor Group, postponed plans earlier this year to launch a new-generation Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxi service until 2026 as the company laid off hundreds of U.S. employees, TechCrunch reported in May.
Waymo has purchased vehicles from Stellantis (STLAM.MI) and Jaguar Land Rover and integrated their technology into base vehicles to provide self-driving ride-hailing services in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo is also using vehicles from Zeekr, an electric vehicle brand owned by China’s Geely Automobile Holdings, to test its next-generation self-driving car technology.
Alphabet said in July that it planned to invest $5 billion in Waymo over several years to expand its self-driving ride-hailing service.
