SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia said on Monday (Feb 8) they are not in talks with Apple on developing autonomous vehicles, sending their shares tumbling.

In early January, Korea Economic Daily TV reported Apple and Hyundai were in discussions to develop self-driving electric vehicles by 2027 and develop batteries at US factories operated by either Hyundai or its affiliate Kia.

Shares of Hyundai and Kia were trading down 6.8 per cent and 13.6 per cent respectively as of 1216 GMT versus the broader market Kospi’s 0.6 per cent drop.

So far this year, Hyundai has advanced 30 per cent, while Kia has rallied 63 per cent on reports they may build Apple car. Apple has never acknowledged talks with the automaker about building vehicles.

Reuters reported in December that Apple was moving forward with autonomous car technology and aimed to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.