Less-than-Brillance - China's BS6 collapses in crash test

[Flybrian]

China's Brilliance BS6 sedan fails German crash test

06.21.07, 10:52 AM ET | Link to Original Article @ Autoblog

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - A car with which China's Brilliance wanted to conquer Europe's automobile market has failed to pass a benchmark German crash test, the German ADAC automobile club said today.

The BS6 sedan, made by Chinese car maker Brilliance, won only one out of a possible five stars in the crash test, carried out in accordance with Euro NCAP regulations, at ADAC's crash test laboratories, the organisation said.

It was the second time in less than two years that a Chinese-made car has failed the test, following the spectacular failure of the Landwind sports utility vehicle (SUV) made by Jiangling Motors 18 months ago, said ADAC spokesman Maximilian Maurer.

'The BS6 sedan performed almost as badly as the Landwind in November 2005,' Maurer said.

The test consisted of a frontal and side crash at 64 kilometres (40 miles) per hour, and the front crash showed that the safety cell of the Brilliance BS6 was too soft and not stable enough, ADAC said.

Most European-made cars win four or five stars in the crash test, so the result is not encouraging for the BS6, which was launched at the last Geneva Motor Show.

'After Landwind's 2005 test result, it stopped being sold in Europe,' said ADAC's Maurer.

The BS6 could therefore face the same fate, he warned.

Click to view test footage
Click to view test footage with commentary (am Deutsch)

[Delta Force79]

...I'll say.

[SingleStylish]

appropriately named too... BS 6

[balthazar]

Oh, let's all brush this right under the rug (mitsubishi'll keep them company) and welcome chinese cars with open wallets and arms; after all- everyone knows that more competition = we (as consumers) win!

[Sixty8panther]

I think my 1984 Datsun would break this car in half before my rubber bumper covers got scuffed.

[mustang84]

Amazing how the A-pillar just crinkles up like a McDonald's straw. These death traps should not be sold in any market, even China.

[Cory Wolfe]

Ouch. That's pathetic.

[Intrepidation]

Sad really, this is one of the better looking Chinese cars...but to put it into perspective, BV's 12 year old Millenia gets much better results than that thing...which goes to show how far behind they are.

[regfootball]

just watched this.

all i can say is

MA

THER

FA

QUER

SONOFA

BISH!

[FAPTurbo]

Ho-ly F*ckin Sh*t...

[thegriffon]

"We paid Porsche how much for engineering this, and this is what we get?"

[Brougham-Holiday]

[Cory Wolfe]

BV's 12 year old Millenia gets much better results than that thing...which goes to show how far behind they are.

Not to mention that it looks much better, as well.

[Intrepidation]

Not to mention that it looks much better, as well.

True `dat

[FAPTurbo]

Not to mention that it looks much better, as well.

True `dat

Well hold on, lets not get too carried away here.

[AxelTheRed]

They're actually allowed to sell this kind of $h!?

[ZL-1]

They're actually allowed to sell this kind of $h!?

Well... this car's performance was only 50% worse than the Aveo (which got 2 stars - I don't know if there was a re-test or not)

[\end of smartass comment]

[thegriffon]

The BS6 is an old model, already redesigned for the Chinese market. Why they chose to export the old model instead of the new one is beyond me.

[thegriffon]

Well... this car's performance was only 50% worse than the Aveo (which got 2 stars - I don't know if there was a re-test or not)

[\end of smartass comment]

The IIHS offset test resulted in an "acceptable" rating, quite a bit better than two stars, and closer to four stars. It scored much higher in the IIHS test than the Kia Rio, which does get 4 stars under Euro NCAP, and the Aveo itself gets 4 stars under Euro NCAP for child protection (no other car scores higher). GM was expecting much better.

[LosAngeles]

What is on Chinese minds when they engineer cars?

[thegriffon]

They don't, they pay companies such as Porsche, Pininfarina, Ricardo etc. to engineer them, just as Lada did before them. This is what you get when Porsche designs a cheap sedan.

[aaaantoine]

I read the topic title and thought, "Wow, it's such a piece of crap that it collapsed before it even reached the crash wall."

Then I opened the thread and saw business as usual.