After keeping the whole of Chinas petrol heads on tenterhooks since the Beijing 2006 Auto Show, China Car Times has finally caught wind of rumors that the M3 should be on the market in the middle of 2007, which according to our 14 fingers, is next month.

The M3 is powered by a 1.8 Turbo engine which was developed by Brilliance themselves, rather than using the Mitsubishi supplied engines that they use in other models. The M3 will have 170 horses on tap and will come with either a manual, or automatic transmission. Better still is the pricing: The manual transmission will set you back 130,000rmb and the automatic luxury model is 150,000rmb – its nearest competitors in China, chiefly the MGTF and the Hyundai Coupe are both priced over 200,000rmb. Does the Geely Beauty Leopard count as a competitor?