Hong Qi’s HQE/C131 not consigned to the scrap heap just yet

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Obama has his Beast and Chairman Hu has his HQE which he used to review the troops in Beijing in late 2009. The HQE was designed to reflect the past and the future, the HQE’s front end took on a noticably antique tone when it first aired in the capital, powered by FAW’s self designed V12 engine and rumored to be riding on top of a Toyota Prado platform the HQE is no slow coach. Later on FAW announced that they were going to produce the HQE to allow for local demand of the luxury motor, except the car would be known as the C131 for civilian purposes.

The C131 disappeared from our radar in early 2010 when declared that they were going to make it soon, but of course news stopped however rumors of it costing more than 8 million RMB when it took to the roads were starting to circulate as well. The Hong Qi brand is about to get a slight elevation in terms of brand positioning if the C131 and their new c segment sedan are to hit the markets at the same time. The Hong Qi brand is often seen as China’s true luxury label but the good will towards the brand seems to have been squandered over the years on rebranded Audi’s and Toyota’s that carry the famous red flag logo, hopefully this new generation of product will set the brand right once again.