China Brilliance to ship first BS4 sedans to Germany

Brilliance BS4 Sedan

SHANGHAI, July 17 - Brilliance Auto, BMW's partner in China, said on Thursday it will ship its first BS4 sedans to Germany, aiming to bolster its fortunes in the hotly contested market after poor crash test results dampened sales of a previous model.



Brilliance made headlines in Europe last year when its BS6 mid-sized sedan received a rating of just one star out of five in a crash test by Germany's ADAC auto club.

The mid-sized BS6 sedan remains on sale at dealerships in Germany.

Brilliance said it immediately went to work to improve safety standards after the poor test results, altering about 60 components.

The 270 smaller BS4 sedans to be shipped to HSO Motors Europe, a Brilliance importer for Europe, received the equivalent of a three-star rating in a crash test this year from IDIADA, an official test house with the European New Car Assessment Programme, the company said.

Brilliance executives said in April they were aiming to achieve the maximum five stars in the medium term.

An HSO spokesman said the company planned to begin marketing the sedan in the autumn.

Brilliance, parent of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings (1114.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), secured a deal in 2006 to sell 158,000 sedans to Europe over the next five years.

It has lined up import companies serving 17 European countries, including Germany, home turf of Europe's largest automaker, Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), as well as Switzerland, France and Spain, with 700 non-exclusive dealers.

HSO Motors Chief Executive Hans-Ulrich Sachs told Reuters in March that he envisaged reaching annual sales of 200,000 Brilliance cars a year within 10 years, targeting mostly middle-income consumers.

Images gallery :

2008 Brilliance BS4 Sedan : Images courtesy of AutoHome China




Brilliance BS4 Wagon unveiled in 2008 Beijing Auto Show




[Source : Reuters]