Alphabet’s Waymo and Hyundai may join hands for self-driving cars – report

Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo, formerly known as Google Self-Driving Car Project—reportedly in talks with Hyundai Motor (OTCPK:HYMTF) to outsource manufacturing of its self-driving vehicles.

This collaboration could involve using Hyundai’s (OTCPK:HYMTF) Ioniq 5 electric models for Waymo’s sixth-generation autonomous driving technology, Reuters reported, citing South Korea’s local newspaper.

Representatives from both companies met multiple times to explore this partnership, indicating that the plan may replace offerings from China’s Zeekr (NYSE:ZK) with Hyundai’s (OTCPK:HYMTF) Ioniq 5 model.

“We’ll decline to comment on speculation, but I can share that we are hard at work validating the 6th-generation Waymo Driver on the Zeekr platform and intend to introduce it into our fleet when ready.” Waymo said in a statement to Reuters.

“There is no change to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo,” Zeekr (ZK) said. “Nothing is determined at this stage about new businesses,” commented Hyundai Motor (OTCPK:HYMTF).

The findings came after U.S. President Joe Biden swept increases in tariffs across a range of Chinese imports, slapping a hefty 100% duty on electric vehicles, effective September 27.

Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) said in July that it will spend an additional $5B on Waymo over the next few years.

Hyundai Motor (OTCPK:HYMTF) traded about 4% higher on the South Korean stock exchange on Thursday.