SEOUL, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo is

in talks with South Korea's Hyundai Motor ( HYMTF ) to

outsource manufacturing of its self-driving vehicles, South

Korean newspaper, Electronic Times, reported.

Officials at Waymo and Hyundai Motor ( HYMTF ) 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 vehicles would replace the

offerings from China's Zeekr, which Waymo is currently testing.

The report came as President Joe Biden's administration last

week locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including

a 100% duty on electric vehicles, which will take effect on

Sept. 27.

Regarding the media report, Waymo said in a statement to

Reuters: "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."

Hyundai Motor Group said "nothing is determined at this

stage about new businesses," referring to its plan to sell its

vehicle platform to self-driving technology companies.

Motional, a self-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 ( STLA ) and

Jaguar Land Rover and integrated its technology into the base

vehicles to offer autonomous ride-hailing services in Phoenix,

San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Waymo is also testing vehicles from Zeekr equipped with its

next-generation technology. Zeekr is the electric car brand of

China's Geely Automobile Holdings.

Alphabet said in July that it planned a $5 billion

investment in Waymo over a multi-year period, as the company is

expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service areas.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang in Seoul and Abhirup

Roy in San Francisco)