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Brilliance Auto
Headquarters Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Key people Mr Qi Yumin
Products automobiles
Parent Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Co. Ltd (55%)
Website http://www.brillianceauto.com/

Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Limited is a publicly owned, Chinese investment holding company making automobiles, automotive components, and minibuses.[1]

Based in Shenyang, Liaoning Province,[2] and listed on the Frankfurt and Hong Kong stock exchanges.[3] In 2010 it was one of the top ten most-productive carmakers in China coming in ninth and selling a half million units.[4]

Mr Qi Yumin has been the Chief Executive Officer and President of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd since January 2006.[5]

Brilliance has an estimated production capacity of 800,000 units/year as of late 2010.[6] Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.

History[]

華晨金杯汽車(Brilliance Jinbei)の「海獅」シリーズトヨタハイエース

Brilliance Jinbei minibus used by Chinese police, 2008

The origins of today's modern Brilliance can be traced to a state-owned auto factory which, under the guiding hand of the infamous Yang Rong, became a leading Chinese maker of mini-buses between 1991 when Yang first invested in the company and 2002 when he fled into exile.[7]

In 2003 BMW and Brilliance signed a deal for the production of BMW-branded sedans in China.[8] While these vehicles retain the same names as those sold in other markets, they may differ significantly.

Alongside many Chinese automakers looking to enter the US market, Brilliance postponed such plans in 2008, but has briefly sold in Europe.[9] Sales in several European countries stopped in 2010.[10]

In 2009, the company was the eighth-largest automaker in China.[11] That year it sold over 150,000 passenger cars and nearly 80,000 minibuses.[8]

Brands[]

Brilliance BS2

Brilliance BS2.

Brilliance has sold under several brand names, including minibuses under the Jinbei and Granse brands, and sedans under the Zhonghua and BMW brands. Brilliance divested itself of the loss-making Zhonghua branch on December 31, 2009[12] to its ultimate shareholder Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Company Limited which continues to sell the vehicles Zhonghua makes.

Subsidiaries and joint ventures[]

A list of subsidiaries can be found here

BMW joint venture[]

In 2003 BMW and Brilliance agreed to make selected products of this German luxury carmaker in China.[8] This joint venture with BMW makes BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, and may begin producing the BMW X1 in 2012.[13]

These vehicles may differ significantly from those sold in other markets under the same names. As of mid-2010 almost 60% of the components used in the manufacture of BMW products were imported to China.[13]

As of 2009 BMWs are sometimes used by ranking Chinese state officials, although the traditional choice is still a First Automobile Works-built Audi.[14]

Toyota joint venture[]

Brilliance has had a minibus joint venture with Toyota since the early 1990s.[15]

Components and engines[]

While the company also manufactures gasoline engines and other automotive components, automobile manufacture is performed by the subsidiaries Shenyang Brilliance JinBei Automobile Co Ltd and BMW Brilliance Automotive Co Ltd of which Brilliance has 51% and 50% ownership respectively.[16]

Production bases and facilities[]

BMW-branded autos are made at a production base in the Northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang completed in 2004, and ongoing construction may see this base increase its production capacity to 200,000 units/year by 2012.[17]

An engine-making production base may be located in Mianyang, Sichuan province.[6]

Huachen Automotive Group Holdings[]

As of December 2009, Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Co. Ltd has majority ownership of Brilliance, controlling 55% of the company.[18]

European exports[]

In 2007, Brilliance's BS6 sedan performed poorly in a crash test conducted by Germany's ADAC, receiving only one out of five possible stars in the Euro NCAP rating.[19] Brilliance then redesigned the car, changing at least sixty components, and it saw a three-star performance in a crash test performed by Spain's Idiada.[20] However, the price also rose considerably, and the importer (HSO Motors) went bankrupt in November 2009.[21] Brilliance then tried to go it alone, but with high pricing and considerable market reluctance after the well-publicized crash test failures, exports to Europe had ended by April 2010 with no immediate plans of resumption.[22]

See also[]

Factory 1b Companies portal
  • Brilliance BS2/FRV/FSV
  • Brilliance BC3/M3/Zhonghua Coupe
  • Brilliance BS4/M2/Zhonghua Junjie
  • Brilliance BS6/M1/Zhonghua Zunchi
  • Jinbei

References[]

Smallwikipedialogo This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Brilliance Auto. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons by Attribution License and/or GNU Free Documentation License. Please check page history for when the original article was copied to Wikia


  1. For legal name and private ownership, see PLACING OF EXISTING SHARES BY CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER Brilliance Official Site
  2. Exiled China tycoon in U.S. clean vehicle plan reuters.com, Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:50am EDT
  3. For location, see Exiled China tycoon in U.S. clean vehicle plan reuters.com, Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:50am EDT
  4. China Car Market 101: Who Makes All Those 18 Million Cars? thetruthaboutcars.com, January 19, 2011
  5. Bloomberg Business Week
  6. 6.0 6.1 Brilliance Auto plans to build 30 special-vehicle production bases gasgoo.com, November 08, 2010
  7. For Yang turning around a state-owned minibus factory and year fled, see Exiled China tycoon in U.S. clean vehicle plan reuters.com, Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:50am EDT
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 General Overview Brilliance Auto Official Site
  9. China's drive into U.S. car market stalls money.cnn.com, OCTOBER 31, 2008: 6:09 AM ET
  10. Great Wall sets sights on US globaltimes.cn, September 13 2010 (Google cache)
  11. BMW and China partner in $735 mln mainland expansion reuters.com, Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:13am EST
  12. BRILLIANCE CHINA AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS LIMITED (1114.HK), Full Description reuters.com
  13. 13.0 13.1 Brilliance China sees a "very satisfying" profit in 2010 reuters.com, Fri May 28, 2010 1:15am EDT
  14. Chinese public revved up over BMW, Benz on gov't car list xinhuanet.com, 2009-06-13
  15. Brilliance, BMW's China Partner, to Post 2010 Profit on Luxury Car Demand bloomberg.com, By Wing-Gar Cheng - May 27, 2010 10:39 PM PT
  16. For engine and component manufacture, see Brands and Products > Automotive Components Brilliance Auto Official Site
  17. For Shenyang production base, see BMW and China partner in $735 mln mainland expansion reuters.com, Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:13am EST
  18. PLACING OF EXISTING SHARES BY CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER Brilliance Official Site
  19. "Another Chinese Car Flunks German Crash Test". Reuters (22-07-2007).
  20. Kujawska, Joanna (2008-03-18). "Changes introduced by producer in Briliance BS6". Autochiny.
  21. For price rise, see "Brilliance BS6 Not as Lethal as Before". ChinaCarTimes.com (2007-09-13).
  22. "China Automaker Brilliance Halts Europe Exports, Executives Say". AutoWeek.com. Crain Communications (2010-04-29).

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