Chapter 739 - 713: Favor Greater Than the Sky

"Long time no see."

"Tea this evening."

Chen Jun and Wang Minjiang met each other in the base’s lounge, their encounters had been few, but they both held the same status.

Yellow River Semiconductor and Xin’an Automotive were two of New Yuan’s earliest spin-offs, and they have become the best developed and largest enterprises, with Androff’s Star Airlines temporarily unable to compare with them.

Xin’an Automotive is now the leader in new energy vehicle companies both domestically and worldwide, while Yellow River Semiconductor is a unicorn in the domestic chip and system fields, both standing at the pinnacle of their industries.

This is largely due to the technological support from the base, although in the past year, the base didn’t even inquire or provide more technical outputs, it still did not affect such an outcome.

When summoned by Lin Ju all of a sudden, neither of them dragged their feet; they almost immediately got up and rushed to the base, hoping to meet "that man who had set foot on the Moon."

They didn’t have to wait too long, within 15 minutes of both of them arriving, he appeared at the door of the lounge.

"Mr. Lin!"

"Sit."

Lin Ju didn’t bother with much pleasantries, simply greeted them, and took a seat opposite on the sofa, starting with an explanation,

"I won’t keep you for too long, I have to take a plane to the Capital shortly, and tomorrow is the time for the hydrogen bomb explosion; if you have any questions afterward, find Ye Changsi."

Chen Jun was of course aware of United Mining’s blasting plan, in fact, United Mining had overshadowed all the world’s aerospace institutions to become the top stream, with any news about them being widely disseminated.

After all, a "private" enterprise capable of buying nuclear explosives for mining on the Moon, its prestige in the real world even exceeds that of most countries.

Thinking about the great matters Lin Ju dealt with on a daily basis, he even felt that building cars hardly matched the identity of the other party, and his face suddenly showed a look of admiration.

However, Lin Ju paid no attention to the change in his expression, and instead went straight to the point:

"Xin’an’s development momentum is very good, I see that you can start to be fully profitable by 2020, Chen, your contribution is indispensable."

"Mr. Lin is too kind, I’m also standing on the shoulders of a giant."

Chen Jun felt quite embarrassed, as Xin’an Automotive’s current situation is really due to the solid foundation provided by the parent company, and without any major mishaps, it was almost impossible to go wrong.

In the last three years, Xin’an’s business made big money through selling cars and related derivative business, yet overall, the financial report showed a loss, mainly due to the continuous investment in infrastructure.

Xin’an began its business in 2015, at which time only BYD had a foundation in new energy through the early DMI technology, domestic pure electric cars were still in their initial stages, and the well-known new power forces of the future were still slowly developing.

Xin’an entered the market with pure electric and autonomous driving, which, despite being advanced in technology, were very dependent on infrastructure, which was completely absent for 5 years, all had to be done by themselves.

Electric vehicles required the construction of Supercharger stations everywhere. Autonomous driving required the building of a vehicle network. Lane-level precise navigation depended on national survey and mapping update data from survey vehicles.

This was not to mention the supply of parts; a mature and robust supply chain that would develop later was totally absent, and Xin’an could only support and cultivate each part with their own money and technology.

So, even if Xin’an’s cumulative sales exceeded 1.5 million units, and they were aiming for an annual sales volume of one million this year, all profits were invested in various ecosystem construction, even showing a trend of increasing losses.

Fortunately, both major shareholders were very confident and patiently continued to increase their investments, and the concept stocks even saw ongoing bull markets.

Xin’an’s current level of technology is at least 3 to 5 years ahead of its peers, especially after acquiring the base’s 220wh/kg battery and lightweight alloys, they did not continue to compete in range but tried to reduce the weight of the cars.

With the same battery capacity, while competitors’ car weights were 2 tons, Xin’an could reduce it to 1.5 tons, lower the height of the car, and also reduce energy consumption, easily discernible by the naked eye as superior technology.

Chen Jun’s goal was to achieve an annual sales volume of 3 million units by 2020 and to try to popularize L3 (the world line’s defined standard) full autonomous driving."

Lin Ju carefully examined the confident Chen Jun and suddenly asked,

"How is your unmanned taxi operation going?"

Upon hearing this question, Chen Jun hesitated for a moment, but still answered honestly,

"The L3 technology for unmanned taxis is rather primitive, and to operate on a large scale in cities, it would require a significant cost to install auxiliary facilities for the roads. Currently, it seems... not very meaningful."

As he spoke, he felt somewhat ashamed, believing that it was his lack of ability that caused the development of autonomous driving to stall, but Lin Ju did not seem surprised at all.

Genuine autonomous driving capable of handling complex road situations demands much higher standards than assisted driving, which is beyond the technological strength of Xin’an.

The base-produced first-generation X32035 remains an unattainable peak in the country, and the intelligence level of SC09 is not something that can be developed in a short period of time.

The key issue is that there is no strong demand for L3 level autonomous driving in the country at present.

No demand? Create the demand.

Lin Ju’s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to ask,

"Do you understand ride-hailing?"

"Understand, of course I understand!"

How could Chen Jun not understand ride-hailing, or rather, he should understand it the best.

The concept of ride-hailing first emerged in 2010, but it wouldn’t flourish until around 2020, with 2018 being the eve of the peak of the industry.

Anyone who deeply researches this industry would know that ride-hailing would eventually move from part-time to professional, and the ultra-low cost advantage of new energy vehicles will bring a major boost.