Brilliance China Automotive Holdings says it remains confident about an aggressive export plan and its overall future even as it moves to delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The board members of Brilliance, which started trading on the NYSE in 1992 as the first Chinese automotive company, have reached an agreement to leave the US stock market as a result of declining trade volume and rising administrative costs, according to a statement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The NYSE has been notified of the company's intention, Brilliance said in the statement, without providing a timetable for the delisting. The shares will continue to trade on the over-the-counter market.

"Our business will not be affected as most of our shares are traded on the Hong Kong stock market, where investors have more interest in mainland companies," Lisa Ng, vice president of Brilliance China, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Brilliance China raised US$80 million in its initial public offering in New York in 1992. It began trading shares on the Hong Kong bourse in 1999.

Company shares closed at US$27.76 on Friday, after trading as high as US$29.98 in the past year.

"The car maker is generating less money on the NYSE market because of falling volume despite a climbing trading price," said Duan Chengwu, an auto analyst from Global Insight Co Ltd in Shanghai. "Overseas investors are less interested in Brilliance China, partly because of its low profitability."

The Chinese partner of BMW AG has lost money over the past two years as a result of intensified market competition and declining car prices.

Brilliance reported a loss of 398 million yuan (US$52 million) last year following a loss of US$85 million in 2005.

But the company indicated that it is well on its way to turning itself around after boosting sales of its self-branded models as well as increasing exports to overseas markets.

It has rolled out several passenger cars under its own Zhonghua brand, preparing for sales on the US market as early as 2009 after exporting to the European market last year.

The car maker earlier expects to break even this year after setting a sales target of 300,000 units, an increase of 34 percent from last year.

In its five year plan to end by 2010, Brilliance also aims to double sales to at least 500,000 units with a revenue of 80 billion yuan.

(Shanghai Daily July 10 2007)