What happened
Shares of Canoo Holdings (GOEV -8.52%), a maker of special-purpose electric vehicles (EVs), rose Thursday morning after a report related to a potential new deal in the EV space. The stock was 8.3% higher as of 9:40 a.m. EST today.
So what
Today's report from CNBC said that a deal is near for an Apple (AAPL 1.27%) autonomous EV involving Hyundai (HYMTF 3.44%) and Kia Motors. The vehicle is to be built at Kia's plant near Atlanta, according to the report. Hyundai owns about one third of Kia.
So what does this have to do with Canoo? The Apple car could be made with Hyundai's EV platform. Canoo and Hyundai announced a partnership last year to develop an EV platform, which would likely use Canoo's proprietary skateboard-platform architecture.
Canoo's skateboard vehicle platform. Image source: Canoo.
Now what
Canoo plans to use the skateboard platform for its van-like lifestyle vehicle and for a multipurpose delivery vehicle (MPDV), with production beginning in 2022. A potential Hyundai-Kia manufactured Apple EV could benefit Canoo in several ways. Related to its Hyundai agreement, Canoo said in an investor presentation that "Hyundai Motor Group expects the new platform using Canoo's skateboard architecture to allow for a simplified and standardized development process, lowering vehicle price."
Additionally, the company has said it has an opportunity for skateboard licensing revenue, which it has not included in its financial projections.
Investors should note that no agreement between Apple and Hyundai has officially been announced. But the potential does highlight the relationship between Canoo and the Korean automaker, which could portend future deals as well.
