World Domination through Planet Development - Chapter 104



Only Noblemtl

Episode 104. Ace Car

Things went smoothly from then on.

Jung-woo, who was hired as president of Ace Motors, called the Ace Motors shareholders’ meeting and was immediately elected as a member of the Ace Motors board of directors.

There was no need to worry about it not passing, as the combined stake of Ace Motors held by Daehyun Motors and Jungwoo Motors was close to 40%.

Ace Automobile Headquarters.

1st floor lobby.

A group of men stormed into Ace Motors’ headquarters.

The one who comes in from the front is Jeong-woo.

The menacing gait gave the members of this massive building an air of intimidation, as if an occupying force were entering a fallen castle.

At the main entrance through which they were entering, the executive directors of Ace Motors were already waiting.

They greet Jeong-woo and his group with nervous looks.

“Welcome, sir.”

One of the directors came forward as a representative and greeted Jeong-woo.

The CEO of Ace Automobile has already been transferred to Daehyun, and Jeongwoo has been appointed as his replacement.

Now that he has been inaugurated as CEO by the board of directors, he can become the full-fledged CEO of Ace Motors.

“Please call me CEO, sir.”

“Yes, I understand. Sir, please come this way.”

After exchanging brief greetings with all the Ace Motors employees watching, Jung-woo and the other directors moved to the conference room where the board meeting was held.

* * *

cabinet.

“… Then, I hereby declare that the motion to appoint President Cheon Jeong-woo as CEO has been passed as originally proposed with the approval of a majority of the Board of Directors.”

Clap clap clap clap.

Everyone present at the board meeting gave a round of applause.

And Jungwoo was already sitting at the top table, taking it for granted.

“Then the next agenda item is the change in the release date of the new vehicle model that will be released this time… .”

The next agenda item announced by the host is to apply the master pilot to new vehicles.

Of course, it was the agenda that Jeong-woo raised.

Jungwoo naturally took the floor and began to bring up specific details about the discussion.

“First of all, I would like to thank you all. Since the matter is urgent, I have no choice but to personally attend and speak here, so I ask for your understanding.”

Originally, there was an official inauguration day and various procedures such as the handover of duties.

However, the result of the agreement reached between Chairman Jang Woo-sun of Daehyun Automobile Group and Jeong Woo, who can be seen as the two major mountain ranges, was something that no one here could stop.

“Ace is about to launch a new model of autonomous vehicle, right? When will it be?”

Jeongwoo looks around naturally and asks.

Everyone’s expressions were clearly tense. This was because most of them were consumed by the anxiety that they might be replaced.

The director at the front opened his mouth in response to Jeong-woo’s question.

“It is scheduled to be released in Korea and Europe by the end of the year, and in the US in April next year.”

“Oh, that’s good. Let’s try to push back the European release date a bit for now. We can make it the same as the US.”

“Even if we do that, will we be able to replace all the Master Pilots you mentioned within the deadline?…”

Those who had already attended the board meeting were also informed in advance that the master pilot would be applied. It was written briefly in the board meeting agenda, so they could not have been unaware of it.

It was announced that Master Pilot autonomous driving would be installed in overseas exports, excluding domestic ones.

The problem was how.

Vehicles for domestic use and for shipment to Europe have already been produced in quantity.

Not only does it require changing the existing process, but it also creates the hassle of having to manage domestic and overseas products separately. They say they will only give priority to replacing and selling products for overseas use.

Another problem is that the so-called master pilot is currently undergoing a test run. The test run is not an actual test, but rather a process of synchronizing with the current autonomous vehicle software.

It wasn’t an actual driving test… Honestly, I know it’s great, but I couldn’t help but be skeptical.

Of course, there was no one who would say outright to Jungwoo’s face that his performance was questionable.

“Isn’t it your job to make that possible? If it doesn’t work out, you can delay the release date one more time.”

Everyone was speechless at Jeong-woo’s confident speech.

“But… if that happens, there will definitely be domestic consumers who will be dissatisfied with the pricing policy.”

Another director raised suspicions.

“Of course, there should be some price differentiation. How about lowering the price of domestically released vehicles a little?”

“This is an amount that has already been thoroughly determined based on vehicle specifications, specifications, and market research. Especially since it is a bit tight to achieve this year’s performance target… I think it would be right to raise the price of vehicles released overseas.”

The previous director cautiously raised an opposing opinion to the opinion put forth by Jeong-woo.

“Well… what about the complaints from overseas consumers?”

It was a very common view. No one would agree to suddenly raising prices. But this is a company where that is a daily occurrence.

The complaints from domestic consumers were just an excuse, and they were only reflexively worried about the company’s operating profit falling. Until now, performance had directly affected their status.

I don’t know what will happen in the future.

“I guess it could be… but it often happens that the release price increases even though the vehicle contract has not been signed.”

Not often. There are countless cases where prices are raised for various reasons, such as raising prices because they are expected to sell well or raising prices because the cost of raw materials has increased.

The pessimism of the board members continues. Everyone is shouting their opposition from a realistic perspective, but aren’t you the ones who don’t know who will be cut tomorrow? Isn’t it time for someone to tactfully shout their approval?

At that moment, I thought, “There must be people like that.”

“What could possibly not happen? It is entirely possible. In some cases, a full recall may be necessary, but of course this is possible for vehicles that have not even been released yet.”

One of the directors, who had been observing the situation, answered confidently.

“I see, right?”

Jeong-woo smiled brightly at those words and replied.

“Yes, of course. As long as we pass the procedures to comply with the autonomous vehicle regulations of each country in which it is launched, there will be no problem in launching it.”

Although he had secretly set a condition regarding the performance of the Master Pilot, it was such an essential condition that Jungwoo had no reason to care about it.

“You don’t have to worry about that. What happened to the request I made earlier?”

What Jungwoo had requested in advance was to install a master pilot on a trial basis in a new car and link it with autonomous driving software.

A procedure that must be followed unconditionally and preemptively in order to reproduce a released vehicle.

“That’s… Our Ace is working with Daehyun’s Autoware, so it’s a bit difficult to handle everything with our own autonomous driving R&D department.”

The director spoke hesitantly. He seemed cautious, knowing the delicate relationship between Jungwoo and Daehyun.

“Oh, really? Then please quickly request Autoware. And we will discuss later on how to create a cooperative system with our PDC’s Sarah AI.”

But when Jungwoo said that he didn’t really care, the director let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes, I understand.”

“So, are there any other objections to this agenda?”

Jungwoo pushes forward without hesitation.

No one could oppose it under the pressure of that momentum.

* * *

Daehyun Motors Chairman’s Office.

“You delayed the release date? The new self-driving model?”

Chairman Jang Woo-seon asked.

“Yes, they are proceeding with the domestic release as is, but they have postponed the release date in Europe.”

It was a story about what Jungwoo did at Ace Motors.

Since Chairman Jang Woo-sun’s influence would not be erased immediately, he could know this much information right away if he wanted to.

Chairman Jang had a hunch about what autonomous driving was.

“What’s the reason?”

“I heard it’s equipped with fully autonomous driving software. Didn’t they recently create something called a Master Pilot?”

“I see… More importantly, it’s the hardware.”

Chairman Jang, who had been nodding, corrected his secretary’s words.

“Oh, yes… Then what will you do about the cooperation request that Ace sent to Autoware?”

The secretary asked with a meaningful expression.

Chairman Jang Woo-seon understood the meaning of those eyes, but ignored them. Cheon Jeong-woo was not a person who would be subjected to that level.

“Okay. Just take care of it quickly.”

“… Yes, I understand.”

After the secretary left, Chairman Jang Woo-seon thought alone.

Fully autonomous driving… To be honest, I don’t even know how this autonomous driving-only component called the Master Pilot operates.

But autonomous driving in cars is truly a double-edged sword.

Autonomous driving is something that can cause fatal damage to its image with just one accident.

Chairman Jang Woo-sun thought that autonomous driving would face many challenges because of this.

Chairman Jang Woo-sun believes that no matter how well-made a self-driving car is, accidents are bound to happen.

Even if a person drives perfectly, accidents happen, so can AI really avoid accidents in a limited environment?

I think there will eventually come a day when people will acknowledge this and accept fully autonomous driving, but at least not for now.

If that guy Cheon Jeong-woo’s master pilot makes even the slightest mistake…

It won’t be easy for that guy Cheon Jeong-woo to swallow Dae-hyun’s car.

* * *

“Even so, isn’t it a bit presumptuous?”

[It seems like it would appear that way in their eyes.]

Sarah answered Jungwoo’s question.

“I guess so?”

But what can I do?

In any case, the important thing is to apply all the necessary factors for autonomous driving to the master pilot.

In the first place, this new autonomous driving model of Ace was ready for it, so it would have been a loss not to do it right away.

The performance of the master pilot is definitely guaranteed.

The Master Pilot will use it to the point of brazenness.

In general, when it comes to autonomous driving developed by humans, the principle is to calculate driving information using data from cameras, sensors, etc.

Of course, the Master Pilot will also receive information about him as input data, but of course, that is just an illusion.

The actual basis for the judgment is Sarah’s surveillance system.

Sarah’s Master Pilot-equipped vehicles will consider all the hazards around them, from vehicles entering their blind spots out of sight to how tired the truck driver ahead is and who might be drowsy behind the wheel.

There was absolutely no risk of an accident unless a pedestrian walking about 1m away suddenly poked his head to the side.

“Foreigners who have never seen Android would be quite surprised.”

Although many foreigners have encountered Android in other countries, it is still not sold in many developed countries.

But what if an AI-based fully autonomous vehicle comes out in that situation?

It is even a self-driving car that has thoroughly studied the traffic laws of each country.

If people experience that convenience, not only Daehyun but also all automobile companies, including Edison, will have no choice but to fall behind Ace Automobile.