Hongqi is the premium brand of the FAW group
- Hongqi (“Red Flag” in English), belonging to the Chinese group FAW (First Automotive Works), is the oldest Chinese brand of passenger cars, having been created in 1958 for high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Chinese communist regime, similar to the ZIL car brand in Russia.
- Its limited production ceased in 1981, its black limousines being replaced by stretched Audi A6s (FAW being responsible for the licensed production of Audi models), but it resumed some fifteen years later in a new form, with Hongqi becoming the premium brand of the FAW group and its range has continued to grow since the end of the 2010s. Today, around fifteen different models make up the Hongqi range including eight D, E and F segment sedans, six D, E and F segment SUVs, as well as an E segment minivan.
- In Europe, the best-known model is the all-electric EHS9 F-segment SUV, which targeted the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan, for a much lower price (70,000 to 80,000 euros depending on the version) and whose production ceased in 2025, after 15,974 units were produced from 2020 to 2024.
- The size and diversity of the Hongqi range, along with its prestigious history, allows the brand to outpace all its rivals, with production in China reaching 418,241 units in the first 11 months of 2025, suggesting a volume of 450,000 units for the entire year. The brand has come a long way, having produced only 5,025 cars in 2016, 5,835 in 2017, 33,574 in 2018, 104,056 in 2019, 209,197 in 2020, 318,696 in 2021, 302,676 in 2022, 340,500 in 2023, and 417,520 in 2024.