Spy shots from the upcoming Brilliance H230 hatchback testing in China. The Brilliance H230 sedan debuted last week at the Beijing Auto Show, the hatchback will likely debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show in December.

There will be two engines: 1.3 and 1.5, mated to a 5-speed manual or a AMT automatic. A more powerful 1.5 turbo is being considered. Price for the sedan will start around 65.000 yuan.

Rear-light design very nice, close-up:

Via: Sohu.com.

This is the new Brilliance H230 sedan, it debuted on the Beijing Auto Show and will be listed on the China car market in the second half of this year. Design worked out very well, it is a sharp looking small sedan that will certainly win buyers. Brilliance’s design has been improving fast over the last couple ‘a years, may it continue! Now, note that ‘journalist’ in a kinda dirty white t-shirt at the back of the car.

He wasn’t no journalist indeed, a spy this is, the lady on the left doesn’t like foreign spies checking Chinese cars, she keeps a close eye on this man.

Strangely, Brilliance had only one H230 on its booth, this might indicate production isn’t on steam yet. Normally when car makers debut a volume model they got the booth full of ‘m. The doors remained shut as well, no pics inside on this one. Still, it loox very good from any angle.

There will be two engines: 1.3 and 1.5, mated to a 5-speed manual or a AMT automatic. A more powerful 1.5 turbo is being considered. Brilliance is also developing a H330 hatchback which will likely debut at a later time. Size of the sedan: 4390/1703/1482, wheelbase is 2570. Price will start around 70.000 yuan.

The Brilliance Greater China II concept debuted at the Beijing Auto Show. The Greater China II is an updated an much better version of the Brilliance Greater China concept car that debuted on the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. The Greater China II previews Brilliance’s new flagship sedan that will see production in 2013.

The Greater China II will be positioned above the Brilliance BS6, price will start around 150.000 yuan. The concept car was ‘powered’ by a new 180hp 2.0 turbo mated to a 6-speed automated manual transmission. That indeed would be a fine engine for such a big car, length is just under 5 meters and wheelbase is 2900mm. The concept also has a sorta KERS-system but that will very likely disappear on the production car.

Think away the weird and not so pretty wheels and there is pretty much the real thing. Chrome around the windows might be toned down a bit too…

Strongest angle of the Greater China II, C-pillar lines very fine to rear end. Lines around the exhaust pipes still a bit messy.

Brilliance Automotive will bring four concept cars to the Beijing Auto Show. First up is the Brilliance Greater China II, an updated version of the Brilliance Greater China that debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show last year. The Greater China will see production in 2013, it will positioned above the BS6, priced around 150.000 to 180.000 yuan.

The second concept has a rather interesting name: “It’s Me”.  It is a five-door hatchback with daring lines, said to show Brilliance’s design direction for its future small and medium-sized cars. It seems a fuzzy mess to me, more work is needed here! What’s under the bonnet is yet a mystery.

The third and fourth concept cars are from Brilliance’s Jinbei division. Jinbei makes all sorts of minivans. This white concept has an interesting name again: “Large Sea Lion Camper”, it is a large RV, based on the existing Large Sea Lion, that can be used for camping. China gets richer, people got more holidays and just like in the rest of the world they like to spend those days in the woods, in comfort. Very certainly a growing market segment in China, so the Large Sea Lion makes sense. Jinbei by the way means ‘Golden Cup’.

Number four is a pure electric Large Sea Lion. This vehicle might hit the market as soon as Q3 this very year. Details on the power-train are not available yet, we will keep you posted.

Via: Autohome.

Last-minute surprise from Brilliance Automotive. The upcoming Brilliance H330 has been renamed to Brilliance H230. The H230 will debut at the Beijing Auto Show later this month and it will be listed on the Chinese car market later this year. See below for new spy shots showing the very new H230 from all sides.

There will be two engines: 1.3 and 1.5, mated to a 5-speed manual or a AMT automatic. A more powerful 1.5 turbo is being considered. Brilliance is also developing a H330 hatchback which will likely debut at a later time. Size of the sedan: 4390/1703/1482, wheelbase is 2570.

The grill is the H230′s strongest point, it dominates the whole car and likely the whole street. Headlights move nicely around the corner of the car. Strong design from Brilliance, may there be more in the future.

Very clean dash, nice job again, with a racy steering wheel. Dials sporty.

Via: Sohu.com.

Brilliance Automotive, BMW’s Chinese partner, reported full-year profit rose 43 percent after demand for luxury vehicles outpaced deliveries in the country’s overall automobile market. Brilliance also has a minibus joint venture with Toyota, and they sell their own cars under the ‘Brilliance‘-brand.

Brilliance’s net income rose to 1.81 billion yuan ($285 million) last year, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday. That matched the 1.81 billion yuan average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales fell 28 percent to 6.44 billion yuan.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are counting on China and the U.S. to fuel expansion this year as they face shrinking demand in Europe. Brilliance, which assembles BMW’s 3- and 5- series sedans in Shenyang, northeast China, increased the number of dealerships in the country last year to cater to demand that has shown signs of cooling.

Brilliance rose 0.9 percent to HK$8.32 at the close of trading in Hong Kong trading before the announcement, paring this year’s loss to 0.7 percent. The benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 0.8 percent today.

The automaker will add local production of the X1 sport- utility vehicle and new 3-series sedan this year. The company had the capacity to make about 100,000 BMW vehicles at the end of 2011, or about 43 percent of the German automaker’s total sales in China.

Growth in premium-light vehicle sales in China, the world’s second-largest market for luxury vehicles, will slow to 24 percent this year after jumping 34 percent in 2011, according to Christoph Stuermer, a Frankfurt-based analyst at IHS Automotive.

For the overall market, vehicle sales will probably miss an 8 percent growth forecast as the slowing economy and rising fuel costs curb buying, Gu Xianghua, deputy secretary of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said March 21, citing his personal opinion.

Via: Businessweek.

This is the new Brilliance H330 sedan, all-naked in white. The H330 will debut at the Beijing Auto Show later this month and is has become a real looker, especially the front is expressive with an interesting chrome-pattern on the grille and headlights that move around the corners.

We very much approve this design, not because it is overly pretty but because it is daring. China needs more automakers who dare! Brilliance does, also see those high-mounted side-mirrors. There will be two engines: 1.3 and 1.5, mated to a 5-speed manual or a AMT automatic. A more powerful 1.5 turbo is being considered. Brilliance is also developing a H330 hatchback which will likely debut at a later time. Size of the sedan: 4390/1703/1482, wheelbase is 2570.

Back much less impressive then front, did the designers ran out of ideas here?

Via: Sohu.com.

A very subtle customized Brilliance BS6 seen here in Beijing. The fine car has an all-new front that clearly reminds of the mad German tuner Asma. The rest of the body has been taken care for as well, with side skirts, a crap load of stickers, blacked-out alloys and a big wing on the back.

Four exhaust pipes and a diffuser. Plate has a lotta zero’s, that wasn’t a cheap one, but if you make your car this good the plate needs to stand out as well. Even better things going on inside:

Very blue for safe driving at night.

The owner must be a blue man, blue he likes, blue on the seats, on the doors and even around the televisions which seem to show a Chinese blues artist performing.

Standard Brilliance BS6. Power comes from a 1.8 turbo with 125kw and 235nm. Price starts at 127.800 yuan and ends at 249.800 yuan. Earlier on we saw another modified BS6 that thought it was a BMW…

Pics via: HoopChina.

The very first spy shots of the all-naked new Brilliance Junjie FRV. The hatchback gets a completely new front with a bigger grill and a very sporty bumper. The back changed as well and the interior has been updated with necessities such as a screen on the center console.

Current car. Price starts at 43.800 and ends at 85.300 yuan. Engines: 1.3 and 1.5. Price and power will move to the new car basically unchanged. The new FRV will debut at the Beijing Auto Show next month and it will be listed on the China car market soon thereafter.

New bumper, light units, bigger logo.

Via: Autohome.

These are the very first spy shots of the upcoming Brilliance H330 hatchback. We have seen many spy shots of the H330 sedan before, both cars share the same platform and engines. The sedan will debut at the Beijing Auto Show next month, the hatchback probably later.

There will be two engines: 1.3 and 1.5, mated to a 5-speed manual or a AMT automatic. a more powerful 1.5 turbo is being considered for the H330, or so rumors say. A more powerful engine would indeed do good for the H330′s image. Price for the sedan will start around 80.000 yuan, price of the hatchback will start around 70.000 yuan.

Via: Autohome.