If recent crash test results are any indication, then North American automakers have little to worry about in terms of a Chinese invasion. Recent videos and images circulating the internet show some repulsive-looking crash tests on a few models. The tests were conducted in Germany at the ADAC Test Centre.In particular, the Brilliance BS6 was put into a 40-mph offset front impact which saw the frame deflect so badly that the driver door popped out of its frame, and later required a crowbar and some muscle to open. The rocker panels kink and bend, showing a lack of integrity in the car's structure, while the A-pillar collapsed like a poorly-built piece of patio furniture.
Compare the photos or video to a top-marked North American car, and the Chinese machine looks like it was traveling four times the speed after the impact. A BMW 3-series, for instance, shows little to no intrusion into the passenger compartment in the same test that would have seen the driver's legs mangled in the Brilliance. Side-impact performance was equally as poor, and fatalities would be probable. This was a machine intended for sale in North America within a year or so, and would have competed with the VW Passat and Audi A6. Good luck, Brilliance.The BS6's less-than-brilliant crash impact performance earned it one star, a failing grade. But it's not the only Chinese deathtrap tested by the ADAC in the recent past. In 2005, they tested the Jianling Landwind SUV, and the machine performed so poorly that sales were halted in Europe. Brilliance said they wouldn't stand in the way of owners wishing to return their cars because of the crash tests.
photo: ADAC