Waymo is in talks with Hyundai Motor to outsource manufacturing of its self driving vehicles, Reuters reported South Korean newspaper Electronic Times as saying.
According to the report, Waymo and Hyundai Motor officials have met more than three times to discuss a plan to use Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicles for Waymo’s sixth generation self driving technology abd the plan includes replacing offerings from China’s Zeekr.
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Reuters noted the report came as President Joe Biden’s administration last week locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including a 100% duty on electric vehicles, which will take effect on 27 September.
Waymo said in a statement to Reuters: “We’ll decline to comment on speculation, but I can share that we are hard at work validating the sixth generation Waymo Driver on the Zeekr platform and intend to introduce it into our fleet when ready.”
Zeekr told the news agency: “There is no change to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo,” adding that they are “actively working together to deploy the vehicles”.
Hyundai Motor Group told Reuters: “nothing is determined at this stage about new businesses,” referring to its plan to sell its vehicle platform to self driving technology companies.
Reuters noted Motional, a self-driving technology unit of Hyundai Motor Group, earlier this year delayed plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-generation Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026 and laid off hundreds of workers in the United States.
Waymo has purchased vehicles from Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover and integrated its technology into the base vehicles to offer autonomous ride hailing services in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Waymo is also testing its next generation self-driving car technology using vehicles from Zeekr, the electric car brand of China’s Geely Automobile Holdings, Reuters said.
