Shares of Hyundai Motor Co. soared more than 20% in Seoul trading Friday after the South Korean auto maker confirmed it was in talks with Apple Inc. to develop a self-driving electric car.
“Apple and Hyundai are in discussion, but as it is at early stage, nothing has been decided,” Hyundai said in a statement.
That was enough to spark Hyundai’s
005380,
+23.79%
sharpest intraday trading gain since at least 1988.
The Korean news website Hankyung first reported the Apple news, saying Hyundai would manufacture the Apple-designed car as well as develop batteries for it.
Separately, Bloomberg News reported Thursday that it will take Apple
AAPL,
+3.41%
at least five years to develop an autonomous car. Bloomberg also reported that a number of former Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
+7.94%
executives have been added to the project.
For years, Apple has been rumored to be working on a self-driving car, and has gone back and forth between developing its own car and just developing the technology for one. Last Month, Reuters reported Apple was again looking to develop a passenger car, with a target date of 2024.
Apple shares jumped more than 3% on Thursday, and are up 69% over the past year, compared to a 7% gain by the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.69%,
of which it is a component, over the past 12 months.
