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,
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,
at least five years to develop an autonomous car. Bloomberg also reported that a number of former Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
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,
of which it is a component, over the past 12 months.
