BMW Brilliance, the joint venture between the German automaker and Chinese automotive manufacturing company Brilliance Auto, is planning to roll out a new sub-brand for Chinese consumers.
The basis for the sub-brand will likely be the last generation BMW 3-Series platform, China Car Times reported, citing Chinese automotive media.
The reports are based on BMW Brilliance filing paperwork to register a new brand; the name of the brand reportedly leaked to the press as being "Zhi Nuo," which could be translated as "The Promise." the article said.
No official announcement of the new sub-brand or its official English name has been made.
While plans and details surrounding the new brand are meant to be under wraps, reports indicate that BMW has already reached out to key dealers in the Chinese market to ask for feedback regarding the new brand.
The new brand will likely allow BMW get the permission from Chinese authorities to build more local assembly plants, which will in-turn generate more profits.
Distribution of the new brand will be throughout most of China, slotted under the MINI brand as an entry-level vehicle, LeftLaneNews reported.
Auto-making partnerships are common in China, where foreign manufacturers are practically bound to go in 50/50 with China's auto manufacturers if they want to cash in on the world's largest auto market, while avoiding heavy import tariffs.
It's common to see knockoff copies of popular cars on the roads in China, MSN Autos reported, but because of international intellectual property laws there is no risk of the fake brand name cars ever leaving China.
"Now, the Chinese government thinks [it has] found a convenient way around the pesky necessity for actual innovation," said James Tate in an editorial for MSN Autos. "By pushing the creation of sub-brands underneath the existing auto-partnership umbrellas, the Chinese can in turn create ownership of intellectual property. This is because the sub-brands are 100 percent Chinese."
The foreign companies tied to the Chinese joint ventures are likely to use discontinued models as the basis for the the sub-brands, Tate said.
Analysts doubt whether the sub-brands will sell well, because they aren't necessarily a great deal. One Chinese auto blogger wrote that China's other sub-brand, the Everus S1 (a Guangzhou-Honda venture based on the Honda City), is only slightly less expensive than a new (and very similar) Honda Fit and that Chinese consumers are skeptical of new brands and would be more likely to go with a brand they know.
China Car Times speculates the official debut of the new brand will come at the Shanghai Auto Show next month.
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