There was much excitement at the start of this month when it was announced that Apple and Kia would collaborate to produce an electric car. This partnership could have been a landmark moment for the automotive industry with the combined expertise of a tech giant and the know-how of an established automaker. But days later, both Kia and Hyundai said they were no longer in talks with Apple.

Well, the back-and-forth between the two companies continues. A fresh report from the Korean website Chosun Biz now indicates that there is still potential for the Kia-Apple collaboration after all.

"The EV negotiations are experiencing difficulties, but they have not completely collapsed," an unnamed official familiar with the intended collaboration with Apple and the Hyundai Motor Group said. In fact, collaborating on electric vehicles is just one of eight areas where Apple could still end up working with Kia.

What does not appear to have changed is that the development of autonomous vehicles with Apple will not progress. One of the projects that Kia and Apple are still considering is "last mile" mobility, which is focused on a mobility solution to get people from their last primary mode of transportation - such as a bus or train - to their home.

Following this latest news that Kia and Apple could still be working together, shares in Kia Corp rose. Kia has big plans to expand its EV portfolio over the next few years, with 11 new EVs expected to be launched by the year 2026. The so-called Kia CV is expected to debut imminently, and most of the new batch of battery-electrics will be built on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP).

If these new EVs are anything as impressive as the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 - and with potential collaboration with Apple still possible - they should be well worth the wait.