China's car brand Hongqi sees soaring sales in Jan

CHANGCHUN, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Hongqi, a car brand under China's leading automaker FAW Group Co., Ltd., sold more than 40,000 vehicles in January alone, up 82.9 percent year on year, said the group on Thursday.

The brand alone recorded an accumulated sales of 370,000 vehicles last year, up 29.5 percent compared with that of 2022. Among the total, over 85,000 were Hongqi's new energy vehicles (NEVs), increasing substantially by 135 percent year on year.

Currently, the FAW Group is working to promote its NEV models. From 2023 to 2025, the group intends to launch 30 new NEV products, eight of which will be sold under the Hongqi brand.

Hongqi, meaning "red flag," is China's iconic sedan brand. Established in 1958, the brand has seen its vehicles used in parades for national celebrations. Its producer, FAW Group, founded in 1953 in the northeastern city of Changchun, Jilin Province, is regarded as the cradle of China's auto industry.