BMW JV unveils independent brand before Shanghai auto show 2013

From Left: Karsten Engel, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, BMW Brilliance Chairman Wu Xiao'an, Friedrich Eichiner, member of the board of management of BMW Group, Qi Yumin, chairman of Brilliance Group, BMW Brilliance's president & CEO Olaf Kastner and BMW Brilliance new branding chief Shao Bin at the unveiling ceremony of the ZINORO brand. [Provided to China Daily]

BMW released an independent brand owned by a joint venture with a Chinese company when it unveiled the ZINORO nameplate last week in Beijing with partner Brilliance Auto.

The brand name in Chinese is Zhinuo, which means commitment or promise.

The first car carrying the brand will be completely electric.

It will debut in November this year at the Guangzhou auto show and hit the market in the first quarter of next year.

The car is "specially made in China for China", said Friedrich Eichiner, member of the board of management, BMW Group, in a speech at the unveiling ceremony.

The country is on the right track in terms of green autos, but the switch to new technology takes time, he said.

But "I do believe that it will happen faster here in this country than in other parts of the world," he added.

The car will be built in the northeastern city of Shenyang, where the BMW Brilliance joint venture now produces the BMW 3 Series and X1.

Olaf Kastner, president and CEO of the joint venture, said that the ZINORO brand will have a separate distribution channel, and the batteries will be sourced from within China.

"This is another step in our consistent localization strategy", he said.

BMW has been dedicated to bringing alternative-energy vehicles to China, and its joint venture with Brilliance Auto has also been working to this end.

Three years ago, BMW Brilliance started developing a plug-in hybrid 5 Series.

From 2011 to 2012, the German carmaker brought its MINI E to Beijing and Shenzhen for a 10-month road test.

This year, the company will do a similar field test on its ActiveE in China.

In 2014, BMW will also introduce the i3 - an all-electric car under its wholly owned i sub-brand - to China through imports.

Unlike the carmaker's i brand, the Zinoro brand is rooted in China and carries part of the Chinese culture, Eichiner said.