SHANGHAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brilliance China's mainland venture has begun selling a luxury van based on designs from Japan's Toyota Motor Corp , aiming to penetrate a burgeoning high-end market, the venture said on Friday.
Brilliance Jinbei Car Co Ltd, a tie-up between Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings and Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co Ltd , plans to sell the 2.7-litre "Grace" multi-purpose vans at 363,800 yuan ($43,950) each.
Toyota, which introduced its economy-sized Vios cars in October, provided the technology for "Grace" and for Brilliance Jinbei's popular "Sea Lion" light vans, the van-maker said in a statement.
"Multi-purpose vans have only entered China in recent years and the market is growing rapidly," Brilliance Jinbei said. "But high-end, ergonomically designed vans are so far absent in the China market."
The seven-seater Grace hit the market on Thursday. A Brilliance China spokeswoman said it was still too early to predict the kind of reception it would get and declined to forecast sales.
"Our aim is to get in on a developing market trend," Su Qiang, Brilliance China's president, was quoted in the statement as saying.
Brilliance Jinbei -- formerly known as Shenyang Jinbei Passenger Vehicle Manufacturing Co -- is China's largest van-maker. It is 49 percent owned by Shenyang Jinbei Automotive and 51 percent by Brilliance China.
Competition in the Chinese automobile market is heating up after the country joined the World Trade Organisation last year, with import tariffs set to slide over the next few years.
China already has several producers offering vans and minivans at prices ranging from 40,000 yuan to more than 100,000 yuan, but most of these turn out small, low-end vehicles.
Shenyang Jinbei, which has been forced to trim vehicle prices to fend off cheaper imports, posted a 50.94 million yuan loss for the first half of 2002, blaming sagging van prices amid intense competition in the growing domestic market.
Its A shares, closed to foreign investors for now, were trading at 5.44 yuan, up 2.3 percent, by midday. Brilliance China's Hong Kong-listed counter had dipped 0.77 percent to HK$1.29 by 0426 GMT. ($1=8.277 Yuan)