Shanghai (ZXZC)- FAW Hongqi's all-new large-sized all-electric SUV, the Hongqi E-HS9, made its world's debut on July 28 with its presale kicking off at the same time. The new BEV model can be regarded as the mass-produced version of the Hongqi E115 concept that was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2019. It is expected to hit the market in the fourth quarter of the year.

Wang Guoqing, vice president of FAW Group, revealed that Hongqi will roll out 3 to 5 new models per year over the next five years and it has already mapped out 24 to 25 new products.

FAW Group celebrated on April 15 the first spade cut for a new Changchun-based plant which is designed to produce new energy vehicles (NEVs) and intelligent-connected vehicles (ICVs) under its premium brand Hongqi.

Involving a total investment of 7.8 billion yuan ($1,114,779,120), the plant is scheduled to be completed in 2022 with an annual vehicle capacity of 200,000 units and an expected yearly output worth RMB60 billion, according to the automaker. 

FAW Group said in early January that 21 new models will be launched in the next five years under its premium brand Hongqi, with annual sales expected to exceed 600,000 units by 2025.

Xu Liuping, chairman of FAW Group, noted that 18 of the 21 new models will be new energy vehicles.

Hongqi posted a robust year-on-year growth of 110.7% with 70,045 units sold during the first half of 2020. Even in the virus-stricken first quarter, the premium brand still defied the overall downward trend with its sales surging 88% year on year to 25,000 units.

Last year, Hongqi successfully surpassed the threshold of 100,000 units in both annual outputs and sales, and is ambitious to double the sales in 2020. It plans to sell 400,000 units in 2020 and 600,000 units in 2025, Xu said (Hongqi E-HS9, photo source: Hongqi's WeChat account).