Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Co. Ltd., known by its brand name Brilliance Auto Group, is a Chinese multinational

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufacturer holding company headquartered in

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

. Its products include automobiles,

microvan A microvan is a van or minivan which is within the Japanese kei car classification or similar, and is smaller than a mini MPV. In China, these vehicles are nicknamed ''miàn bāo chē'' ("bread-loaf vehicle") because of their shape.

s, and automotive components. Its principal activity is the design, development, manufacture, and sale of passenger cars sold under the Brilliance brand. It was established by founding chairman Yang Rong. Brilliance Auto Group holds a 42.32% shareholding in the Bermuda-incorporated Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Limited (commonly known as Brilliance Auto or Brilliance China), which is listed on the

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

stock exchanges. Brilliance China Automotive Holdings (Brilliance Auto) previously produced "Brilliance" branded cars under manufacturing unit Brilliance Motor, which has since been sold to BMW. Brilliance Auto also holds 25% of BMW Brilliance, a joint venture with BMW which produces, distributes, and sells BMW passenger cars in mainland China. It also holds a 51% stake of Renault Brilliance Jinbei, a joint venture with

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

which designs, develops, manufactures, and sells light commercial vehicles under the Jinbei, Huasong and Renault brands. As of 2022 ( VW), BMW held 100% of the shares in Brilliance Motor, and 75% of BMW-Brilliance, controlling the majority of production capacity under Brilliance. In 2010, Brilliance Auto Group and its subsidiaries had an annual production capacity of 800,000 vehiclesBrilliance Auto plans to build 30 special-vehicle production bases
gasgoo.com, November 8, 2010 although capacity has come online since. In 2012, the company manufactured almost 650,000 vehicles, the eighth-largest production of any Chinese vehicle maker that year. Roughly 70% of production was consumer sedans.

History

Origins

The origins of Brilliance Auto Group (officially Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Company Limited) can be traced to a Chinese-

government-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

automobile factory, which under founding chairman Yang Rong became one of the leading Chinese makers of minibuses between 1991 and 2002.

1990s

In the 1990s under Yang Rong, Brilliance rose to become China’s largest automaker."In Rise and Fall of China’s Bo Xilai, an Arc of Ruthlessness,"
''The New York Times''. On 9 June 1992, a subsidiary, Brilliance China Automotive Holding Limited was incorporated in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. In the same year, the company was registered as a foreign company in the Hong Kong Companies Registry. Initially, the subsidiary owned 40% stake of Shenyang Jinbei Coach Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (), while the rest of the stake was owned by another company, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Company Limited (; ). The ratio was later changed to 51% owned by Brilliance China Auto and 49% owned by Shenyang Jinbei Automotive. The American depositary shares of Brilliance China Auto were floated on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

beginning in 1992 as NYSE:CBA. The company intended to delist from NYSE in 2007 and completed in 2009. In 1999, the Group injected most of the group assets into the subsidiary, and the shares began to be traded on the

Stock Exchange of Hong Kong The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the 9th largest globally by market capitalization as of August 20 ...

(now part of

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX; ) operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets through its wholly owned subsidiaries The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK), Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limite ...

) as SEHK:1114. , Huachen Automotive Group (Brilliance Auto Group) owned 42.32% shares of the listed company as the largest and controlling shareholder. The Group has another listed associate company that is listing in the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (, SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock ...

: Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Company Limited. , the Brilliance Auto Group, via an intermediate company Shenyang Automobile Industry Asset Management Company Limited (), owned 24.38% of the shares of that company as the largest and controlling shareholder. It planned to inject the stake into the major listed company of the group, Brilliance Auto, in 2003. However, the deal collapsed. Nevertheless, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive has not had the controlling interest of Shenyang Jinbei Coach Manufacturing since 1992, which is the predecessor of Brilliance Jinbei (now Renault Brilliance Jinbei). Shenyang Jinbei Automotive has been listed on the stock exchange since 1992. Shenyang Jinbei Automotive and Brilliance Auto Group were separate conglomerates, and a controlling stake in Shenyang Jinbei Automotive was acquired by

FAW Group China FAW Group Corp., Ltd. (First Automotive Works) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Changchun, Jilin.

2000s

In 2001, Shenhua Holdings agreed to acquire the shares of Shenyang Jinbei Automotive that were held by Shenyang Automobile Industry AMC, allowing the Jinbei marque integrated into the Group. , which in turn has the full control of the stake of Shenyang Jinbei Automotive that was held by the AMC. In 2001, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' reported that Chairman Yang Rong was China's third-richest businessman. Yang made a failed bid to locate a Brilliance factory in

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

, China.''Politics fuels battle for Renault plant,'' by Alexandra Harney and Richard McGregor, ''The Financial Times''. London (UK): November 30, 2004. pg. 28 Ningbo is near the rich coastal city of

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. In his attempt, Yang incurred the wrath of the governor of the province of

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

Bo Xilai Bo Xilai ( zh, s=薄熙来, p=Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. ...

(Bo was later convicted on bribery, corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement, and sentenced to life imprisonment), as Bo demanded that Yang locate the factory in Liaoning and Yang refused."The Big Read: History of Brilliance Jinbei,"
''Car News China''. In 2002, Bo seized Yang's stake of $700 million in Brilliance.
''The New York Times''. Bo also accused Yang of embezzlement, and had an arrest warrant issued against him, precipitating Yang's flight from China in July 2002; since then Yang has been living in exile in the United States. In 2003,

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

and Brilliance Auto signed a deal for the production of BMW-branded sedans in China. In 2005, Brilliance planned an entry into the newly formed FIA World Touring Car Championship. However, the Brilliance WTCC program did not make the grid. From 2009 to 2011, the group was the eighth-largest automaker in China.

2010s to present

In 2012, Brilliance Auto Group formed a joint venture Brilliance Shineray () in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

with Shineray Group to produce SWM and Jinbei brand automobiles. As of 2019, Shineray Group owned 80% stake of that joint venture. The rest is owned by . The latter is not part of the Brilliance Auto Group, but the Group provides a guarantee for some debt of that company. In 2013, Brilliance Auto formed a spin-off, Xinchen China Power Holdings Limited. In 2017, Brilliance Auto also formed another joint venture Renault Brilliance Jinbei with

. Brilliance Auto acquired the remaining 39.1% stake of Brilliance Jinbei from sister company Shenyang Jinbei Automotive, and then Brilliance Auto re-sold a 49% stake to Renault. In October 2018, BMW Brilliance, a 50:50 joint venture between BMW and Brilliance, was taken over by BMW by the latter acquiring an additional 25% of the available shares. In recent years, Brilliance Group has suffered from long-term poor management, and its own brands have been in a state of loss. The majority of profits come from BMW Brilliance and the

debt ratio The debt ratio or debt to assets ratio is a financial ratio which indicates the percentage of a company's assets which are funded by debt.Drake, P. P., Financial ratio analysis, p. 9, published on 15 December 2012 It is measured as the ratio of tot ...

remains high. In 2019, Brilliance Auto's net profit was RMB 7.626 billion. If the profits of BMW Brilliance were subtracted, the figure would be a loss of RMB 1.334 billion. In the first half of 2020, Brilliance Auto's net profit was RMB 4.045 billion, of which BMW Brilliance contributed RMB 4.338 billion. Two credit rating agencies in mainland China, Dagong International and Oriental Jincheng, began to put Brilliance bonds on their watch list in late August 2020. By late September, Brilliance's credit rating began to be downgraded. By late October, Brilliance's credit rating had been reduced from AAA to A+. In November 2020, Brilliance Auto's parent went into bankruptcy administration and announced the default of corporate bonds worth more than CNY6.5

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

. The bankruptcy administration does not affect the subsidiaries Brilliance Auto, Xinchen China Power, Shenhua Holdings, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive, or any of the joint ventures operated by the organization. On January 12, 2021, the

issued a disciplinary decision to publicly condemn Brilliance Automotive Group Holding Co., Ltd., its chairman, and the official in charge of information disclosure affairs. On December 30, 2021, Brilliance Renault Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd. filed a new bankruptcy review case, and the handling court was the Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court of Liaoning Province. In June 2023, Brilliance Group stated that it had identified Shenyang Automobile Co., Ltd. as a potential investor in the reorganization. Shenyang Automobile is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shenyang Cairui Investment Co., Ltd. Caisheng Investment, a subsidiary of Shenyang Cairui Shengjing Financial Holdings, and Shenyang Metro Operation, a subsidiary of Shenyang Metro, each hold 50% of the shares. The actual controller is Shenyang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. After the relevant procedures for reorganization are passed, the actual controller of Brilliance Auto will be changed from the Liaoning Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to the Shenyang Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. On September 15, 2023, FAW Car Vice President Liu Xuemin and former Vice President Liu Tongfu were suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and were both subject to disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Liaoning Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.

Products

Brilliance Auto Group and its subsidiaries sell passenger cars under the Brilliance marque.

Brilliance products (produced under Brilliance Motor)

Earlier discontinued models

* Brilliance BS2 ** Brilliance FRV ** Brilliance FRV Cross ** Brilliance FSV * Brilliance BS4 * Brilliance BS6 * Brilliance BC3 * Brilliance H220 / H230 * Brilliance H320 / H330 * Brilliance H530 * Brilliance H3 * Brilliance M1 (Zunchi) * Brilliance M2 (Junjie) * Brilliance M3 (Kubao) * Brilliance Tun (Dolphin) *

Brilliance V3 The Brilliance V3 is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by Brilliance Auto under the Zhonghua brand. The V3 crossover shares the same platform with the Brilliance H220, and It debuted on the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show and was launched in the C ...

* Brilliance V5 * Brilliance V6 * Brilliance V7 * Brilliance B8 File:Brilliance BS2.jpg, Brilliance BS2 File:Brilliance Junjie FRV facelift 01 China 2012-04-22.jpg, Brilliance FRV File:Brilliance Auto Cross 2010 China.jpg, Brilliance FRV Cross File:Brilliance Junjie FSV China 2012-04-22.jpg, Brilliance FSV File:Brilliance Auto Coupe 2010 China (front).jpg, Brilliance BC3 File:Brilliance Junjie China 2012-05-05.jpg, Brilliance BS4 File:Brilliance BS6 2.0 Deluxe.JPG, Brilliance BS6 File:Brilliance H220 1.5 2014 (14323118822).jpg, Brilliance H220 File:Brilliance H230 01 China 2013-03-04.JPG, Brilliance H230 File:Brilliance H320 China 2016-04-08.jpg, Brilliance H320 File:Brilliance H330 01 China 2014-05-01.jpg, Brilliance H330 File:Brilliance H530 facelift 01 China 2016-04-09.jpg, Brilliance H530 File:Brilliance H3 001.jpg, Brilliance H3 File:Brilliance Zunchi facelift China 2016-03-28.jpg, Brilliance M1 File:Brilliance M2.JPG, Brilliance M2 File:Brilliance Tun 01 China 2016-04-06.jpg, Brilliance Tun File:Brilliance V3 facelift China 2018-03-28.jpg, Brilliance V3 File:Brilliance V5 facelift 2 China 2016-04-13.jpg, Brilliance V5 File:Brilliance V6 01.jpg, Brilliance V6 File:Brilliance V7 01 China 2019-03-28.jpg, Brilliance V7

Huasong

Huasong is an automobile brand specializing in vans created in 2014 to 2020 by Brilliance Auto. * Huasong 7 File:Huasong 7 facelift 002.jpg, Brilliance Huasong 7

Xinri

Brilliance Xinri New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd was founded in October 2018, and the first stage plant was completed and put into operation in December 2020. * Brilliance Xinri i03 File:Brilliance Xinri i03 image01.jpg, Brilliance Xinri i03

Joint ventures and alliances

BMW Brilliance

In 2003, BMW and Brilliance agreed to make select products of this German luxury carmaker in China. As of 2010, the joint venture made the BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series and had plans to introduce the

BMW X1 The BMW X1 is a line of cars produced by German marque BMW since 2009. It is in the subcompact luxury crossover SUV, subcompact luxury crossover class, and the first-generation X1 was based on the BMW 3 Series (E90), E90 3 Series and offered rea ...

by 2012. As of 2011, locally produced engines were slated to appear in some offerings soon, and the company had plans to bring up total production capacity to 300,000 by 2013. These vehicles may differ slightly from those sold in other markets under the same names. As of mid-2010 almost 60% of the components used to manufacture the China-built BMWs were imported to China.Brilliance China sees a "very satisfying" profit in 2010
reuters.com, Fri May 28, 2010 1:15 am EDT File:BMW 1-Series F52 01 China 2017-04-05.jpg, BMW Brilliance 1-Series F52 File:BMW 5-Series G38 Li 02 China 2018-03-20.jpg, BMW Brilliance 5-Series G38 Li File:BMW X1 F49 Li 01 China 2017-03-24.jpg, BMW Brilliance X1-Series F49 Li

Brilliance Shineray

Brilliance Shineray is a joint venture between Brilliance Auto Group and Shineray Motorcycle Company ( Shineray Group), one of China's largest motorcycle producers. Shineray Group bought the Italian motorcycle brand, SWM (motorcycles), and started an automotive brand with the SWM nameplate. SWM now makes a range of crossovers and compact MPVs. Key models include: * SWM G01 * SWM X7 * SWM X3 File:SWM G01 002.jpg, SWM G01 File:SWM X3 02 China 2018-03-20.jpg, SWM X3 File:SWM X7 China 2017-03-22.jpg, SWM X7

Renault Brilliance Jinbei (Jinbei)

Formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary (Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automotive) which sold licensed Toyota and General Motors designs, Jinbei was re-formed with Renault in 2017 with plans to launch light commercial vehicles and SUVs with Renault technology, under the Jinbei and Renault marques. Key models include: * Jinbei Konect (Guanjing) * Jinbei New Haise * Jinbei F50 * Jinbei S70 * Jinbei Haishiwang File:Jinbei F50 001.jpg, Jinbei F50 File:Jinbei Haixing X30 China 2014-04-28.jpg, Jinbei Haixing X30 File:Jinbei Tjatse 01 China 2017-03-29.jpg, Jinbei Tjatse S70

Operations

BMW-branded autos are made at a production base in the Northeastern Chinese city of

completed in 2004, and ongoing construction saw this base increase its production capacity to 200,000 units/year by 2012. An engine-making production base is located in

Mianyang Mianyang ( zh, s=绵阳, t=綿陽, w=Mien2-yang2, p=Miányáng; Sichuanese Pinyin, Sichuanese romanization: ''Mien-iang''; formerly known as Mienchow, zh, t=綿州, p=Mianzhou, links=no; Sichuanese romanization: ''Miencheo''; ) is the second lar ...

Sichuan province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

Sales

A total of 188,143 Brilliance marque vehicles were sold in China in 2013, making it the 25th largest-selling car brand in the country in that year (and the 10th largest-selling Chinese brand).

European exports

In 2007, Brilliance's BS6 sedan performed poorly in a crash test conducted by Germany's

ADAC The ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest automobile association. The ADAC is the largest wikt:Verein, ''verein'' (club) in Germany, with around 21 million members. Its headquarters are located i ...

, receiving only one out of five possible stars in the Euro NCAP rating. 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. However, the price also rose considerably, and the importer (HSO Motors) went bankrupt in November 2009. 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 were ended in April 2010 with no immediate plans for resumption.

SAIPA

In 2015, Brilliance announced it had started joint production with

SAIPA SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

of Iran, to produce the H300 and H200 models, under the local brand name of Saipa.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry Car brands Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Car manufacturers of China Chinese brands Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1992 Multinational companies headquartered in China Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in the People's Republic of China Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of China Companies owned by provincial governments of China