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, the report said, adding that the plan includes replacing China’s Zeekr offerings with Ioniq 5 models.
The report comes as President Joe Biden’s administration last week imposed steep tariff increases on Chinese imports, including a 100% tariff on electric vehicles that will take effect on Sept. 27.
In response to the media report, Waymo said in a statement to Reuters: “We won’t comment on speculation, but I can share that we are working hard to validate the sixth-generation Waymo Driver on the Zeekr platform and intend to introduce it to our fleet when ready.”
Zeekr said: “There are no changes to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo,” adding that they are “actively working together to deploy the vehicles.”
Hyundai Motor Group said “nothing has been decided at this stage regarding new business,” referring to its plan to sell its vehicle platform to autonomous driving technology companies.
Motional, an autonomous 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 as it laid off hundreds of workers in the United States, TechCrunch reported in May.
Waymo has purchased vehicles from Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover and integrated their technology into 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.
Alphabet said in July it planned a $5 billion investment in Waymo over a multi-year period as the company expands its autonomous ride-hailing service areas.
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