Waymo in discussions with Hyundai Motor for self driving taxis: Report

Waymo is in discussions with Hyundai Motor to outsource self driving vehicles, Reuters reported citing South Korean paper Electronic Times. 

The report noted that officials from both firms have interacted more than thrice to flesh out a plan to use Hyundai's Ioniq 5 electric vehicles for Waymo's sixth-generation self-driving technology. It also entails replacing offerings from China's Zeekr with the Ioniq 5 models, the report further added. 

This comes on the back of the Biden administration finalising high tariff hikes on Chinese imports, which includes a 100% duty on electric vehicles, due to take effect from 27 September, Reuters noted. 

Waymo told Reuters in an official statement: "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."

Zeekr said: "There is no change to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo," adding that they are "actively working together to deploy the vehicles," the newswire said. 

Hyundai Motor Group 'nothing was determined' at the current juncture about new businesses, alluding to its plan to sell its vehicle platform to self-driving technology companies.

Alphabet had noted in July that it had targeted a USD 5 billion investment in Waymo, spanning a few years, as it expands its autonomous ride-hailing service areas.