Shanghai (ZXZC)- FAW Group plans to invest roughly 470 million yuan ($67.4 million) in upgrading the production line to further increase the annual capacity of its premium Hongqi brand to 184,000 units, according to the Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Changchun.   

With the overall capacity of 260,000 vehicles unchanged, the capacity of the Besturn T33 will be reduced to achieve the annual capacity target of 110,000 vehicles for the HS5, 60,000 units for the H5 and 14,000 units for the E-HS3. The project, based on the existing plant, is expected to start production in April, 2020.

The luxury car marque has been developing rapidly since it released its development strategy of “New era, New Hongqi” in January, 2018. The brand announced its production and sales of 2019 both exceed 100,000 units, versus a sale volume of 33,028 units for the year of 2018. At the dealers convention held on December 29 last year, FAW said it aims to double sales of Hongqi in 2020 to 200,000 units. To fulfill the sales target, Hongqi intends to roll out two new models this year, namely, the H9 flagship sedan and the E115, a large-sized all-electric SUV. In addition, the FAW-owned brand is ambitious to achieve electrification of all its models. It launched the first all-electric model, the E-HS3, in August last year and it is expected to offer electric vehicles with 600-km range based on the FME platform this year (photo source: FAW 's Hongqi).