About Zhonghua
Zhonghua (中华), in Europe sold as Brilliance BS6 or Brilliance M1, is a car produced by the Chinese sedan manufacturer Jinbei Automotive Company Ltd., in Shenyang/Liaoning, China, it is a subsidiary from Brilliance (Huachen).
China Automotive Company Ltd. (C.A.C.) and Jinbei Automotive Company Ltd. are wholly owned subsidiarys of Brilliance (Huachen) China Automotive Holding Ltd. (C.B.A.), established in 1992 and incorporated in Bermuda. C.A.C. sold its rights to a limousine and a minivan project to Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Corp. Ltd., that is 51 % owned by China Brilliance. The new sedan division is costing Brilliance USD 500 million. Under a Technical Assistance Agreement with BMW AG, BMW will provide engineering consulting services to the production of the Zhonghua sedan. A team of engineers from BMW was stationed in Shenyang Automotive's facilities to assist in the start-up of the production processes.
Pricing
The Brilliance BS6 has a starting purchase value of 20,000 Euros, similar in price to established competitors like the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat. Brilliance is planning to market the car in America, but its price will be at least $25,000, similar to the already established Toyota Camry. Brilliance also hopes to launch a Sports Coupe model, the BC3, which is expected to be priced between 15 to 22K US dollars.
Controversies
Safety
At a crash test by the ADAC car club performed under EuroNCAP regulations, the car achieved only one of possible five stars, a bad result. A second star was denied because on a side impact test, biometric limits were exceeded. Due to the severe deformation of the car, the likelihood of occupants surviving the crash was low. However, according to a wire report carried by Forbes.com, the Brilliance BS6 has been tested by Spain's Idiada Automotive Technologies SA. Unlike the test in Germany earlier, the Brilliance garnered a 3-star rating as it passed the test performed in accordance with Euro NCAP guidelines. Brilliance is expected to improve the safety ratings of its cars even further before its cars are imported into Europe. It must be noted the car provided for testing in Germany was not the export version and was not offered for the European market.
