BMW Group to build second plant in China with joint venture partner Brilliance Automotive Holdings Limited

Wu Xiaoan, Chairman of BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA), after the signing of the Investment Agreement with Shenyang city government in Beijing on 12th November 2009 regarding the construction of a second plant in China

SHENYANG/BEIJING : November 12, 2009 - At a ceremony held in Beijing on Thursday, the BMW Group and Brilliance Automotive Holdings Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a second production plant at the Shenyang site. The investment volume for the new plant amounts to 560 million euros. Construction work is scheduled to begin in 2010, with the start of production slated for early 2012.


“Brilliance Automotive Holdings Limited is a reliable joint venture partner with whom we have already worked successfully for more than six years. Our plant has reached its capacity limit – so we are now taking the next step. The decision to build a second plant demonstrates that we are investing in our future in China and that we intend to participate in the strong growth in the Chinese market,” stated Friedrich Eichiner, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for finance and vice chairman of BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA). “It is also an important strategic step towards reducing our exposure to currency fluctuations,” Eichiner added.

The joint venture has produced BMW 3 Series and 5 Series vehicles since 2003. A total of approximately 150,000 vehicles have so far rolled off the assembly line, with 450 million euros invested since the joint venture was founded. In a first step, the annual production capacity will be increased from 41.000 to 75.000 units. Upon completion of the second plant there will be a total annual production capacity of 100,000 units. Around 1,000 further jobs will be added to the 3,300 existing jobs in Shenyang.

China is the BMW Group’s fourth largest market. The company has maintained its growth in the country throughout 2009 and in October reported an increase of 81% over the same period last year to 9,558 units. The BMW Group sold 71,952 vehicles (52,622 / +36.7 %) in the first ten months of the year, already exceeding the retail volume for 2008 as a whole. Eichiner: “We are aiming to set a new sales record in China in 2009.”

[Source : BMW]

China's Brilliance to show cars at Detroit show

2008 Brilliance BS4

BEIJING : August 19, 2008 - Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co., a small Chinese automaker, will display cars at the Detroit auto show in January.


The company says it wants to start selling cars in the United States next year, but the cars have not passed U.S. government tests for safety and emissions. Brilliance says it has hired engineering consultants to upgrade their cars.

A Brilliance spokeswoman says the automaker will show four models in Detroit: the BS6 mid-sized sedan, BS4 compact car, BC3 coupe sports car and FRV hatchback.

In recent years, various Chinese automakers have announced ambitious plans to sell cars in the United States. But they later delayed or postponed their plans when they realized the substantial investment required to establish dealerships and upgrade their vehicles.

In July, Brilliance resumed selling the BS6 in Europe. Sales there were suspended about a year ago after the car fared poorly in a crash test. A video of the crash test received a lot of play in Europe.

At the Beijing auto show in April, Brilliance Vice President He Guohua told Automotive News China that Brilliance sent the BS6 and BS4 to the United States in June 2007 for emission and crash tests.

He said the crash test results were good, but the emission test showed problems, such as high levels of oxides of nitrogen.

He said Brilliance has hired the engineering arm of Porsche AG to work on the crash safety of the two models and FEV Inc., a U.S. engine technology company, to reduce emissions.

He expected all the improvements to be made by December.

Brilliance's spokeswoman says the company expects to sell cars in the United States sometime in 2009. She declined to provide further details on plans for U.S. dealers and distribution.

State-owned Brilliance, in Shenyang, Liaoning province, sold 32,006 BS6s and 82,311 BS4s in 2007, according to Automotive Resources Asia, a unit of J.D. Power and Associates.

Brilliance and joint-venture partner BMW AG produce BMW brand cars in China.

[Source : Automotive News .. sub req.]

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]

Brilliance FRV 1.8T - Hot hatch for the masses

The Brilliance FRV is an up coming star of the Chinese car industry, its bubbly design, combined with a decent interior, and a range of engines will prove that the Shengyang based Brilliance are well on track with their future plans for world domination.

Brilliance plan to sell 30 models of their FRV with a range of engines, including a 1.3l, a 1.6l and a 1.8 engine, and as an addition, a 1.8 turbo assisted model.

The 1.8Turbo model FRV will be paired to a 6 speed manual gearbox, although we’re unsure of the pricing, we can guess it will be in the 80,000rmb to 100,000rmb. Brilliance recently announced that they were making waves in bringing their 1.8T BS4 to the sub 100,000rmb price range, something which other marques (Chinese and Foreign) have so far been unable (or unwilling) to do.

[Source : China Car Times]

Image Gallery : Brilliance FRV