Aiming for the 500,000-yuan market, does FAW Hongqi pin its hopes on Huawei's Kunpeng for high-end models?

Another car company has joined hands with Huawei Qiankun.

On April 19th, FAW Hongqi posted a teaser copy "H + H =?" on Weibo, along with the topic "Hongqi and Huawei Qiankun's powerful alliance", officially announcing its cooperation with Huawei Qiankun.

Currently, FAW Hongqi and Huawei Qiankun have not announced more details about the cooperation. However, there are reports that the two sides will adopt the "Three Intelligences and Two Intelligences" cooperation model. Hongqi's models will be equipped with core technologies such as Huawei Qiankun's intelligent driving and Hongmeng intelligent cockpit. Hongqi retains the leading power in product definition, manufacturing, and sales, while Huawei provides three core intelligent technologies: intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, and digital chassis.

Meanwhile, the news indicates that the first model to be launched is confirmed to be the Hongqi 9 Series family, covering models such as H9, E - HS9, HQ9, and HQ9 PHEV that are currently on sale. The revised versions are expected to be launched within 2026, and will be equipped with technologies such as Huawei Qiankun's intelligent driving, Hongmeng intelligent cockpit, Qiankun vehicle control, and Qiankun vehicle cloud services.

With the implementation of the cooperation, can FAW Hongqi further upgrade to the high - end market with the help of Huawei Qiankun?

All in on New Energy

In January 2023, at the Global Strategy Conference for Hongqi Brand's New Energy Vehicles, Hongqi announced that the Hongqi brand would go all in on new energy and promote the electrification of all models across the board. Data shows that since the second half of 2022, except for special - purpose vehicles, all new production capacity of the Hongqi brand has been used for new energy vehicles, and new investment in traditional fuel - vehicle technology and production capacity has been stopped.

In April of the same year, FAW Hongqi announced the establishment of three sub - brands: Hongqi Golden Sunflower, Hongqi New Energy, and Hongqi Energy - Saving Vehicles, representing the ultra - luxury flagship series, the pure - electric series, and the hybrid series respectively, comprehensively covering new car products with different energy sources and positioning.

It is worth mentioning that in this adjustment, FAW Hongqi separated its new energy business into a "sub - brand special zone" and gave priority to injecting R & D teams, production capacity resources, and marketing investment.

With the resource tilt, FAW Hongqi's new energy business has grown rapidly. In 2023, FAW Hongqi's annual sales volume was 370,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 29.5%. Among them, the sales volume of new energy models was 85,000 vehicles, accounting for 23% of the total sales. In 2024, the Hongqi brand's annual sales volume was 411,800 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 17.4%. Among them, the sales volume of Hongqi's new energy vehicles was 115,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 43.7%, accounting for 27.93%. In 2025, FAW Hongqi's annual cumulative sales volume was 460,100 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 11.7%. Among them, the annual cumulative sales volume of new energy products was 149,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 29.8%.

In terms of models, the best - selling models of FAW Hongqi are Hongqi H5, Hongqi HS5, Hongqi E - QM5, etc. According to data from Chezhuzhijia, in 2025, the sales volume of Hongqi H5 was 163,600 vehicles, contributing more than 30% of the total sales, making it the model with the highest sales volume of FAW Hongqi. Followed by Hongqi HS5 with a sales volume of 86,500 vehicles, Hongqi E - QM5 with a sales volume of 68,000 vehicles, Hongqi HS3 PHEV with a sales volume of 34,700 vehicles, and Hongqi HS3 with a sales volume of 22,200 vehicles.

Among them, Hongqi H5, Hongqi HS5, and Hongqi HS3 are fuel - powered vehicles; Hongqi E - QM5 is a pure - electric vehicle; and Hongqi HS3 PHEV is a hybrid vehicle.

In November 2025, FAW Hongqi adjusted its brand structure again, integrating Hongqi Energy - Saving Vehicles and Hongqi New Energy, and established three sub - brands: Hongqi, Hongqi Tiangong, and Hongqi Golden Sunflower.

Data shows that the main Hongqi brand targets the mainstream population, covering various energy forms such as fuel, hybrid, and pure - electric, and is the foundation for sales and profits. Hongqi Tiangong focuses on the young user group, with trendy design and intelligent technology as its labels, aiming to expand the brand's user circle. Hongqi Golden Sunflower represents the spiritual height of the brand, focusing on the ultra - luxury market, and establishing the brand's ceiling through extreme craftsmanship and cultural storytelling.

After this adjustment, FAW Hongqi changed the brand division based on power type to brand division based on market segmentation, making the market positioning clearer.

Impact the High - end Market with Huawei?

Behind the announcement of going all in on new energy in 2023 and the brand structure adjustment in 2025 is FAW Hongqi's continuous accumulation of new energy technologies. Currently, FAW Hongqi has deployed three major technology platforms: Hongqi Honghu Hybrid Platform, Hongqi Tiangong Pure - Electric Platform, and Hongqi Jiuzhang Intelligence, which support the R & D of multi - power models such as fuel, pure - electric, and hybrid vehicles.

Meanwhile, FAW Hongqi has also been actively carrying out cooperation in the field of new energy. In March 2025, China FAW and Leapmotor signed a "Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation". It is reported that the strategic cooperation has two dimensions. First, both sides will give full play to their respective technological accumulations in the R & D field, jointly carry out the joint development of new energy passenger vehicles and cooperation on parts, and enhance product competitiveness through the integration of their technologies. Second, both sides will further explore the feasibility of deepening capital cooperation, and achieve resource synergy across the entire industrial chain through capital cooperation.

Subsequently, the electronic tendering and procurement trading platform of China FAW showed that the procurement of the vehicle joint development and platform licensing fee technology for Hongqi's G117 product has been completed, and the winning bidder is Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd.

At the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2025, Zhu Jiangming, the CEO of Leapmotor, said in an interview with the media that the cooperation on jointly developing a model for the overseas market has been finalized, and the new model of the Hongqi brand will be put into production in the second half of 2026.

With the steady progress of new energy, as a high - end brand under China FAW, FAW Hongqi still needs to make more efforts to upgrade to the high - end market.

Currently, the annual sales volume of models such as Hongqi H5, Hongqi HS5, and Hongqi E - QM5 under FAW Hongqi exceeds 10,000 vehicles, and their prices are basically concentrated between 100,000 and 250,000 yuan. The sales volume of models priced at 300,000 yuan and above has not exceeded 10,000. According to data from Chezhuzhijia, in 2025, the sales volume of Hongqi H9, priced at 329,800 - 539,800 yuan, was 8,667 vehicles; the sales volume of Hongqi HS7 PHEV, priced at 290,800 - 345,800 yuan, was 7,998 vehicles; and the sales volume of Hongqi Tiangong 08, priced at 215,900 - 339,800 yuan, was 4,601 vehicles.

This time, it is reported that the first model to be launched through the cooperation between FAW Hongqi and Huawei Qiankun is confirmed to be the Hongqi 9 Series family. The Hongqi 9 Series family targets the 500,000 - yuan market, which means that FAW Hongqi also hopes to further enhance its brand image through the cooperation with Huawei Qiankun.

Previously, the cooperation between Huawei Qiankun and Dongfeng Mengshi helped the latter further establish its position in the luxury intelligent off - road market. In July 2025, Dongfeng Mengshi launched the off - road SUV Mengshi M817 equipped with Huawei Qiankun's full - stack solution. According to data from Yichebang, the sales volume of Mengshi M817 was 7,716 vehicles in 2025, ranking 14th among hardcore off - road models; in March 2026, the sales volume of Mengshi M817 was 2,036 vehicles, and its ranking had risen to 6th.

Dongfeng Mengshi successfully broke through in the luxury off - road field with the help of Huawei Qiankun. Now, Huawei Qiankun will cooperate with FAW Hongqi, which undoubtedly adds strong impetus to Hongqi's move towards the high - end market. However, establishing a foothold in the high - end market has never been achieved simply by stacking technologies - brand heritage, user perception, and service systems are all indispensable. Whether the two can truly break into the 500,000 - yuan market will be answered by the launched models.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Visibility in the Auto Circle", author: Du Ge. Reposted by 36Kr with permission.