You may not have heard of Chinese luxury automaker Hongqi, but you could be familiar with their cars without even knowing it.

Used as China’s state cars for official Government duties, Hongqi’s range of high-end sedans and SUVs is often seen in motorcades and parades. Soon they’ll be seen on Australian roads too.

Hongqi (pronounced hong-chi) is a brand under the umbrella of the First Auto Works Group, and would be the first passenger car brand from FAW to appeal in Australia, although the company has already established a presence here with its FAW-branded heavy trucks.

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For simplicity and ease of understanding in Australia, the brand will be marketed as HQ, rather than its domestic name, which translates to ‘red flag’. It remains to be seen if the red flag styling features of domestic models are removed for the Australian market.

Right-hand-drive products are already in production, sold in markets like Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. While the brand has a range of over passenger cars and SUVs globally, plus a Toyota Coaster-rivalling bus, in its current portfolio, just one model is expected to launch the brand.

Pitched as a rival to luxury SUVs like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE, the E-HS9 SUV offers an all-electric drivetrain with a 548km WLTP range, 120kWh battery, 362kW dual-motor drivetrain, 5.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration, six or seven seats, and a multi-screen, leather-lined interior.

So far, the E-HS9 is the only right-hand-drive product in Hongqi’s line-up, priced from 2,990,000 Thai baht (A$128,400), positioning it as a rival to incoming large luxury SUVs like the Volvo EX90 and incoming Zeekr 9X.

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FAW has previously confirmed that, before the end of 2026, Hongqi would expand its reach to markets including the UK, Malaysia, and Australia. According to information obtained by GoAuto, the trading names HongQi Australia and HQ ANZ have been registered by Greentech Smart EV Pty Ltd, which will function as the brand’s local distributor.

While Hongqi’s domestic line-up includes petrol, electric, and PHEV across its models, including a 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 in its flagship Guoli sedan, as used by Chinese president Xi Jinping, Australian models are likely to stick with ‘new energy’ EV and PHEV powertrains.

The head of Greentech Smart EV, Jim Wu, told the Australian Financial Review that the brand would aim to offer three models here, priced in line with rivals like BMW and Mercedes-Benz but offering “more luxury”.

Despite this stance, the Rolls-Royce rivalling ultra-luxury sedans sold in the Chinese market aren’t likely to appear in export markets, with the brand focusing on higher-volume small, medium, and large SUVs, echoing its existing European line-up.

Wu said the brand’s dealership rollout included plans to have dealerships in each Australian capital city, but did not provide details on locations or timing for the brand roll-out.