Brilliance V5 History

The Brilliance V5 was unveiled at the November 2011 Guangzhou Auto Show and entered production that same year, priced from CN¥109,800 to CN¥165,800 at launch. The compact crossover used Mitsubishi-sourced petrol engines throughout its nine-year life — a powerplant choice common across many Chinese manufacturers of the era.

Western observers quickly noted that the V5's styling bore a strong resemblance to the BMW X1 (E84), a particularly ironic contrast given that Brilliance's own BMW JV plant was producing genuine X1s just across Shenyang. A facelift arrived at the April 2014 Beijing Auto Show, updating the grille, headlights, taillights, and front and rear bumpers. The model accumulated approximately 158,000 cumulative sales over its run before production ended in 2020.