Iconic Chinese car brand Hongqi delves deeper into new energy sector

CHANGCHUN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hongqi, a car brand under China's leading automaker China FAW Group Co., Ltd., is accelerating its expansion in the new energy sector, with its new platforms ready to launch three electric models.

Hongqi, which means "red flag" in Chinese, is an iconic Chinese car brand that was established in 1958. It has become renowned as the vehicle used for parades during national celebrations.

The company announced on Tuesday that one of the three models, the Tiangong 08 will start its pre-sale at the upcoming Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, which is scheduled for Nov. 15 to 24. The pure electric SUV model is set to officially hit the market in mid-December, while the other two models, a sedan and an SUV, will be launched in 2025.

Liu Yigong, general manager of China FAW Group Co., Ltd., said that the Hongqi brand has devoted the majority of its technological innovation and new production capacity into the new energy sector.

Tiangong 08 is the first of the Hongqi Tiangong series developed on Hongqi's platform of Tiangong for pure electric vehicle development and the platform of Jiuzhang for intelligent technology development.

"Tiangong 08 is built with a ten-part battery safety protection system, combined with new intelligent technology, to greatly improve driving safety," Liu said.

Since 2023, FAW Hongqi has fully accelerated the layout of new energy vehicles and sold 270,000 new energy vehicles. The new energy sector has become a new growth engine that has helped sustain Hongqi's role as a national car brand.

In the next five years, the company has planned to invest 120 billion yuan (about 16.6 billion U.S. dollars) in research and development in the new energy sector.