China is the world's second largest auto maker, and it surpassed the U.S.A. in the first months of this year as the world's largest car market. Exports of Chinese cars on the other hand are disappointing. A recent Gasgoo article said: "As of now, only a small group of Chinese-brand cars have been sold in Ukraine, Russia and some other Eastern European markets. Entering the Western European market is challenging for those carmakers." Challenging might be an understatement. There are people who try to make the entry as hard as possible - even if it needs shady practices.A few years ago, Hans-Ulrich Sachs, a former Volkswagen board member, had a brilliant idea: He wanted to import Chinese Brilliance cars. Brilliance is BMW's joint venture partner in China. Brilliance also makes their homegrown cars. The plan: Import the cars to Germany, and sell them at a very attractive price. A plan that couldn't fail, except that it failed miserably: A few months before the launch of the car at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the German auto club ADAC crash tested the Brilliance BS6, supposedly under EURO-NCAP conditions. The car received one measly star. The video landed on YouTube, and Brilliance was done. A later test in Spain gave the car three stars. But the damage was already inflicted. Brilliance's entry into Europe was severely affected.
Last Thursday, the ADAC published the results of a crash test of the new Brilliance BS4. It failed miserably - at least according to ADAC's press release: The car received exactly zero stars. Those results must have come as a shock to Brilliance, because the BS4's safety has been significantly improved. However, in the meantime, the Euro-NCAP standard also had been toughened-up. The ADAC release concedes: "According to the old standard, the car would have received three stars." Says the ADAC: "The reason for the missing stars is the new rating system with more stringent standards. Apart from passenger safety, safety of children, and safety of pedestrians, electronic assistance systems are part of the test. Due to a lack of ESP, safety belt warner and speed limiter, the BS4 received zero stars." The BS4 was introduced in October 2008, while the old standard was in effect.
This time, even voices in Germany shouted "unfair!"
A call to a government accredited certification expert in Germany revealed that the ADAC has most likely grossly overreached. According to the new Euro NCAP rules, a car without ESP is not eligible for five stars. But it is not automatically disqualified. It could get 4 stars. ESP is not even mandatory yet in the EU, there is a push to make it mandatory. However, ESP is not expected to become law before 2011, possibly not even before 2014.
The German Magazine Focus raised serious "doubts about the procedure" of the test. The magazine points out:
- Euro NCAP is not an official standard. An Euro NCAP rating is not relevant for a car being legal in Europe or not. Manufacturers voluntarily submit their cars to the test - devised by manufacturers and consumer protection organizations.
source: alibaba
