SHENYANG, China — Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd said it earned a profit last year as new models helped boost sales. The Chinese partner of BMW sold 300,369 cars in 2007, beating an earlier forecast of 280,000 units.
Brilliance boosted vehicle sales by more than 30 percent from a year earlier. Its revenues also jumped 32 percent, to $5.9 billion.
The company, which makes the Haise and Jinbei light trucks and buses, has seen its fortunes rise as it has expanded into passenger cars with its own Zhonghua brand. In the past year, it has introduced the Zhonghua Junjie sedan and Zhonghua Coupe (also known as BC3).
Sales of Zhonghua-branded cars, including the Zunchi sedan, soared 82 percent to 115,000 units last year, while exports also rose 79 percent to 15,500 units during the same period.
Brilliance is adding capacity and expanding overseas to fulfill aggressive targets of doubling sales to 600,000 units by 2010, with revenue topping $13.7 billion.
In November, the carmaker signed a contract to set up its fourth overseas factory in Russia, paving the way for it to sell more than 100,000 vehicles in the east European market within five years. The move follows deals to export 158,000 Zhonghua Zunchi (BS6) sedans to Germany and 80,000 Haise light-commercial vehicles to Russia in 2006.
One of Brilliance's cars, a version of the Zunchi, with pricing planned at around $20,000, is being tested and certified in the United States before a planned sales launch in late 2008.
What this means to you: Brilliance still needs to resolve issues concerning the crashworthiness of the Zunchi before it enters the U.S. market. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent
Brilliance boosted vehicle sales by more than 30 percent from a year earlier. Its revenues also jumped 32 percent, to $5.9 billion.
The company, which makes the Haise and Jinbei light trucks and buses, has seen its fortunes rise as it has expanded into passenger cars with its own Zhonghua brand. In the past year, it has introduced the Zhonghua Junjie sedan and Zhonghua Coupe (also known as BC3).
Sales of Zhonghua-branded cars, including the Zunchi sedan, soared 82 percent to 115,000 units last year, while exports also rose 79 percent to 15,500 units during the same period.
Brilliance is adding capacity and expanding overseas to fulfill aggressive targets of doubling sales to 600,000 units by 2010, with revenue topping $13.7 billion.
In November, the carmaker signed a contract to set up its fourth overseas factory in Russia, paving the way for it to sell more than 100,000 vehicles in the east European market within five years. The move follows deals to export 158,000 Zhonghua Zunchi (BS6) sedans to Germany and 80,000 Haise light-commercial vehicles to Russia in 2006.
One of Brilliance's cars, a version of the Zunchi, with pricing planned at around $20,000, is being tested and certified in the United States before a planned sales launch in late 2008.
What this means to you: Brilliance still needs to resolve issues concerning the crashworthiness of the Zunchi before it enters the U.S. market. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent
Add A Comment »