In Chinese hongqi means "red flag", a Communist Chinese cultural symbol. 

Hongqi  is a Chinese luxury car marque owned by the automaker FAW Car Company, itself a subsidiary of FAW Group. Hongqi was launched in 1958, making it the oldest Chinese passenger car marque.  Original Hongqi models were only for high-ranking government officials and remained in production until 1981. The brand was revived in the mid-1990s.

 

Headquarters Changchun, Jilin, China

ca770-ge  1966-1981

The Hongqi CA770 is a limousine produced by FAW Hongqi as the successor to the Hongqi CA72. The CA770 remained in production from 1966 until 1981 albeit in limited numbers. Built on a platform based on the Chrysler Imperial, around 1,600 of these V8-engined Hongqis were built in total, and over the years various versions were released including a 1965 long-wheelbase model with three rows of seats and a 1969 armored version (CA772). A pickup truck version was also produced, with three built. A funeral hearse version was planned, but never produced. The 770 series was powered by a 215 HP Chrysler 5.6 L V8 engine, although bodywork was penned by First Auto Works.

Several modernized modifications of these cars continued to be built in limited numbers until the mid-1990s. The whole range was replaced by the Hongqi Mingshi and its derivatives, which were based on a Chinese built version of the Audi 100.

hqe 2005

The Hongqi HQE is a large four-door limousine built by FAW Hongqi. Released in 2009, it is the first Chinese-built V12 cylinder engine-equipped luxury car. As Hongqi's most advanced top-of-the-line vehicle type, the HQE will serve as the high-end vehicle for VIPs and high-ranking national officials. The HQE was designated the presidential vehicle for paramount leader Hu Jintao's troop review for the People's Republic of China National Day 60th anniversary celebration. The production model of the HQE is called L7 (short wheel base) and L9 when the mass production began in 2013.

Based on the HQD concept car, the HQE is completely hand-built. The body comprises a rectangular section of galvanized steel with square edged exterior panels mounted on a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado-derived chassis, and the outward appearance and detailing contains aspects of Chinese styling. Dimensionally it is 6.4 meters long, 2.05 meters wide, and 1.72 meters high. The HQE is priced at over 3,000,000 RMB or approximately US$439,300 (as of 2009). An armoured version of the car is also available. The Hongqi was designed at the FAW R&D facility in Changchun. The design team was staffed jointly by FAW and Magna Steyr, and contained members from China, Austria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The HQE is powered by an independently researched and developed aluminium V12 cylinder engine of Chinese design (designation CA12VG), with a displacement of 6.0 liters and producing 400 hp.

hq300  2006-2010

The fourth-generation Crown Majesta was introduced in 2004. The engines available were a 3,0-l-V6 and a 4.3 L 3UZ-FE V8 unit.  A supercharger option was also offered, allowing the engine to produce 339 hp.

In China, this generation of the Crown Majesta was rebadged and had been sold as the Hongqi HQ300/HQ430 from 2006 to 2010, using the same engines as the Crown.

The HQ3  saw little market success. First year sales totaled near 500, and while the target for the second year was 1,400 units, the HQ3 would not be profitable until annual sales of 5,000 were reached—something that may never have happened. By October 2008, the price was reduced considerably and the name changed to Shengshi ("Days of Prosperity") in order to better appeal to private buyers. Sales during the first half of 2008 were all from inventory and totaled 788.

1958-now

1964-2018

1997-2018

2018-now

2024-now