China Brilliance produces a Chinese car that (gulp) looks good
It was bound to happen sooner rather than later. China Brilliance, a Chinese car company that’s best buds with BMW, has produced a design that doesn’t burn the retinas upon first sight. This is the Jinjue, which can be translated either as “Triumphant Horse” or “Winning Gold”. It was designed, not surprisingly, in Italy by Pininfarina and actually looks a bit like a 5-Series. It even has a kidney grille like a BMW!
China Brilliance hopes this sports sedan will boost its annual sales from 17,500 to 30,000 this year. No pressure, though. Four engines will be available at launch ranging from 1.6 to 2.0 liters, of which most, according to Inside Line, will be supplied by Shenyang-Mitsubishi.
Seriously though... could this be the first Chinese car capable of generating ginormous global sales?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jason 12:35PM (2/23/2006)
Looks like a 5-series thrown in a blender with a Mazda6.
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Tommy 12:36PM (2/23/2006)
Depends on the price... At Kia Rio prices - you bet. Get into Civic territory - not a chance.
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Corey 12:37PM (2/23/2006)
I hope they change the names of these cars when they get here to the states. Not only do the names not evoke any meaning to the consumers here, but they're a bit hard to pronounce, even for those of us who are fluent in Cantonese.
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nope 12:38PM (2/23/2006)
Seriously though... could this be the first Chinese car capable of generating ginormous global sales?
NOPE.
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B 12:38PM (2/23/2006)
It's a de-bangleized BMW!
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Ron 12:43PM (2/23/2006)
With that range of engine sizes it probably won't have much take-up in the US. Beyond that, doubts (whether well founded or not) will persist about quality and safety. No doubt ADAC will be crashing this one into walls as soon as they can...
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DJ 12:46PM (2/23/2006)
Looks like a Pontiac Bonneville SSE...
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klaatu 12:49PM (2/23/2006)
Doubters only need to look at where Japan was in 1957 when Toyoda (Toyota) sent over their Toyopet Crown, and look to where they are now less than 1/2 century later.
Or perhaps look at how Hyundai started assembling Ford Cortina's in 1967, and where THEY are now.
So, Detroit (Hello, anyone home at Pontiac Division?) has tried for 20 years to be "the affordable BMW brand" and the Chinese, who until about 5 or 10 years ago were lucky to be able to engineer new bicycles and mopeds, have come up with this?! Yeah, they had help.
So did Toyota and Hyundai, at first.....
Sell yer GM stock if you're still stupid enough to hold any.
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Elliott 12:54PM (2/23/2006)
4 engines ranging from 1.6 to 2.0 liters? Why?!? Is someone going to think, "the 1.6 is a little to small for me, I need the power of the 1.7"?
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Joel A 12:54PM (2/23/2006)
A banglidized bimmer with Infiniti M headlamps. Sigh.
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Noah 1:00PM (2/23/2006)
Looks good, now if they could only make it meet crash and emission standards for the US and Canada they'd probably sell like hot cakes... except dealers wouldn't sell them so they could partner with Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire, who knows. But I'd buy that for $10,000.. ok maybe not, if I had $10k I'd put it into my Golf.. but the point remains, I like it.
--Noah
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Giggles of Doom 1:07PM (2/23/2006)
Of course its going to look like something else. There are very, very few cars that are 100% unique looking. Everything is inspired by something else and evolves a bit.
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DJA 1:14PM (2/23/2006)
Wow, I can't wait for someone else to buy one of these!
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overtorqued 1:15PM (2/23/2006)
Anyone else get sick of the "Looks like a ______" posts?
Everytime a new car shows up on this blog, half the posts just say say it looks like something else. Yeah, surprise - a Chinese car that doesn't trigger a revolution in car design. Stop the presses!
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overtorqued 1:16PM (2/23/2006)
Beat me to it, giggles. :)
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Vijo 1:39PM (2/23/2006)
yea i agree... its more like "This looks like.. blog"
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Aki 1:54PM (2/23/2006)
Smash Daewoo and the new 5-series in the blender and you get that car. Too many lines, looks messy. But it's much nicer than what's been offered before. 4 engines from 1.6-2.0? That's just weird.
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Jason 2:09PM (2/23/2006)
Actually, when on occasion a car comes out with a unique design, we don't say "it looks like..." because it doesn't. Simple, huh?
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Laz 2:47PM (2/23/2006)
...the driver oral stimulator attachment will be enlarged, yes?
Ok, Ok, joking aside, how is this different from Kia?
Kia started off as a joke ... and they still are today.
The rest of the world may love it, but the USA will be a tough sell.
Any bets on how many of these show up on "Pimp My Ride" in 4 years?
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Rob Theriaque 2:48PM (2/23/2006)
Not the 5-series... The 3-series- the front is almost cloned. http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/bmw-3-series.htm
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