Various overseas sources are reporting that BMW is going to be launching a new sub-brand in China, not because it wants to but rather to keep the Chinese government happy.
China is a lucrative market for car companies, but the government doesn't make it easy for them, basically forcing them to form joint ventures with Chinese carmakers.
BMW has already done this by shacking up with Brilliance, but now the government is pushing for sub-brands to be created within these ventures, presumably to give the Chinese a slice of the intellectual property owned by the foreign brands.
That's not an ideal situation for companies like BMW who have a huge technological portfolio that they don't want to give away but it appears there is a solution in hand.
Apparently BMW will be launching a new Chinese sub-brand called Zhi Nuo and to avoid sharing its latest technological innovations, the cars will reportedly be based on older-generation models like the previous 3 Series.
On the upside, this should allow customers to enjoy BMW driving qualities for a much lower price. We just hope they build them neatly enough.