A Company is considering two new machines that should produce considerable cost savings in its assembly operations. The cost of each machine is $$14,000$ and neither is expected to have a salvage value at the end of a $4-$year useful life. L Company's required rate of return is $12\%$ and the company prefers that a project return its initial outlay within the first half of the project's life. The annual after$-$tax cash savings for each machine are provided in the following table:

Year Machine A Machine B

$1$ $$5,000$ $$8,000$

$25,0006,000$

$35,0004,000$

$45,0002,000$

Total $$20,000$ $$20,000$

Which Machine's NPV is highest?

a

Machine B

b

Both machines

c

Machine A

d

None of the above