Shanghai November 2 (Gasgoo.com) Fully aware that its self-made vehicles are still far below the European Union (EU) emissions standards, Brilliance Auto may have to shelve plans to export vehicles to the European market, according to a source inside the company.
To preserve air quality, cars must meet certain standards for exhaust emissions before they can be approved for sale in the European Union, which is said will apply the Euro V emissions standards from 1 January 2011 for the registration and sale of new types of cars.
Facing the higher threshold, Qi Yumin, chairman of Brilliance Group, told the Economic Observer Online that currently the company is exporting a small amount of Brilliance Zhonghua sedans to Europe, but whether the project will continue in the future is hardly to say now.
U.K.-based JATO Dynamics said Brilliance sold only 502 units of its BS4 and BS6 models between 2007 and 2009, and 46 units of its BS6, 181, and BS4 models last year in the European market. Four years ago, Brilliance claimed that it was going to export 158,000 sedans to Europe over a five-year period, never expecting such a poor performance.
Earlier, a Brilliance official also said in an Automotive News report that the company has no immediate plans of entering the European market again, which just might be the right decision. Some analysts think Chinese automakers should focus more on the domestic market.
