Brilliance to export 3,000 cars
26 September 2006
Brilliance China Automotive will export 3,000 sedans to Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported, in a deal that underscores the company's ongoing efforts to develop overseas markets. Brilliance, best known for its minibuses, sells sedans under the Zhonghua brand name and owns 49% of a joint venture with Germany's BMW AG. The deal is with a European automobile-trading company, the newspaper reported, although Brilliance did not provide the trader's name. The company said the export agreement "will put Brilliance China's move to expand overseas on a firmer footing." China's exports of whole automobiles doubled in 2005 to US$1.58 billion, according to government figures. Despite its ambitious growth targets Brilliance lost US$14.3 million in the first half of 2006.