Brilliance sticks to new vehicle launch plan for its Mianyang plant

BEIJING -- Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co. is sticking to its original plan to roll out a light bus in August at its plant in Mianyang city, Sichuan province.

Some factory and office buildings at the facility, operated by Huarui Automotive Co., were damaged by the powerful earthquake May 12, according to information released by the Mianyang government.

But none of its employees was hurt, nor was serious damage done to the production line, says a Huarui executive.

Production at the plant was suspended on May 12 but resumed five days later, he said.

The light bus, the right-drive Jinbei-badged Haise, is designed for export to South Africa and other member countries of the British Commonwealth, say sources with Brilliance Jinbei.

The Mianyang plant currently only makes "five or six hundred" Jinbei-badged light vehicles a year, including the Badao SUV and Leilong pickup, the Huarui executive says.

In 2007, Brilliance announced its plan to expand the plant's annual capacity to 60,000 units.

But given the damage the earthquake has inflicted on its factory buildings, it will be hard for the Mianyang plant to achieve the capacity expansion target, says the executive.

In Mianyang city, Brilliance also has another affiliate -- Mianyang Xinchen Engine Co.

Despite slight earthquake damage to some of its older factory buildings, production at the engine plant was "quickly restored", says a manager at Xinchen.

With an annual production capacity of some 100,000 engines, Xinchen supplies 2.0- to 2.7-liter gasoline engines to Brilliance operations in Mianyang and Shenyang. It also supplies domestic customers such as Hunan Changfeng Motor Co.

Brilliance holds a 46.5 percent stake in Xinchen. The rest is owned by the Wuliangye Group, a domestic liquor manufacturer, and the Mianyang government.