[7] Its principal activity is the design, development, manufacture, and sale of passenger cars sold under the Brilliance brand.

Initially, the subsidiary owned 40% stake of Shenyang Jinbei Coach Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 沈阳金杯客车制造有限公司),[15] while the rest of the stake was owned by another company, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Company Limited (Chinese: 金杯汽车股份有限公司; SSE: 600609).

[15]: 244  The American depositary shares of Brilliance China Auto were floated on the New York Stock Exchange beginning in 1992[15] as NYSE:CBA.

However, the deal revised into Brilliance Auto agreed to acquire the stake from Shenyang Automobile Industry AMC in 2003.

[7] In 2005, Brilliance planned an entry into the newly formed FIA World Touring Car Championship.

[47][48] In recent years, Brilliance Group has suffered from long-term poor management and its own brands have been in a state of loss.

Two credit rating agencies in mainland China, Dagong International and Oriental Jincheng, began to put Brilliance bonds on their watch list in late August 2020.

[49][50] In November 2020, Brilliance Auto's parent went into bankruptcy administration,[51] and announced the default of corporate bonds worth more than CNY6.5 billion.

[52] The bankruptcy administration is not affecting subsidiaries Brilliance Auto, Xinchen China Power, Shenhua Holdings, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive, or any of the joint ventures operated by the organization.

[52] On January 12, 2021, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued a disciplinary decision to publicly condemn Brilliance Automotive Group Holding Co., Ltd. and its chairman and person in charge of information disclosure affairs.

[54] In June 2023, Brilliance Group stated that it had identified Shenyang Automobile Co., Ltd. as a potential investor in the reorganization.

After the relevant procedures for reorganization are passed, the actual controller of Brilliance Auto will be changed from the Liaoning Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to the Shenyang Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

[55] On September 15, 2023, FAW Car Vice President Liu Xuemin and former Vice President Liu Tongfu were suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and were both subject to disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Liaoning Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.

[57] Brilliance Xinri New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd was founded in October 2018, and the first stage plant was completed and put into operation in December 2020.

[58] In 2003, BMW and Brilliance agreed to make select products of this German luxury carmaker in China.

[59] As of 2011, locally produced engines were slated to appear in some offerings soon, and the company had plans to bring up total production capacity to 300,000 by 2013.

[62] In 2007, Brilliance's BS6 sedan performed poorly in a crash test conducted by Germany's ADAC, receiving only one out of five possible stars in the Euro NCAP rating.

[66] Brilliance then tried to go it alone, but with high pricing and considerable market reluctance after the well-publicized crash test failures, exports to Europe were ended in April 2010 with no immediate plans for resumption.