Good news for those who believe that hypercarland could use some diversity. The Hongqi S9 Concept in every respect that the Chinese brand presented in 2019 will go into production with the help of the Italian hand.
Rewind to the latest edition of the Frankfurt IAA, which took place in 2019. The German fair was packed with relevant newcomers, including the Land Rover Defender, Porsche Taycan, the Hyundai i10, Volkswagen ID3 and Hyundai 45 Concept. The Chinese brands also turned out big, including FAW’s luxury brand: Hongqi. Hongqi pulled the E115 Concept and the fierce S9 Concept out of the hat during the IAA in Frankfurt. The former has since dried up as the e-HS9 and it has now been officially confirmed that the S9 Concept will also get a production version.
Hongqi S9 Concept (2019, Frankfurt IAA)
The S9 Concept was quirky in every way. The super sportsman got a hybrid powertrain consisting of a 4.0-liter V8 placed behind the front seats with not one, but two superchargers and an electric motor. The system power of the Chinese extremist? No less than 1,419 hp. Although Hongqi already indicated in 2019 that it wanted to build a small series of the S9, it remains more than once with big talk. What seems? The Hongqi S9 is really coming, with the help of the Italian Silk EV.
Silk EV, an engineering and design firm, is entering into a partnership with the Chinese FAW. Silk-FAW will market a range of fully electric and hybrid ‘luxury models’ for FAW’s luxury brand Hongqi. The Hongqi S9 will be the first-born of the joint venture, a car that will be designed and built in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, although Hongqi will also assemble the S9 in Chanchun, China.
The fact that Silk-FAW is serious is shown, among other things, by the fact that the company has attracted none other than drawing master Walter de Silva as Vice President of Styling and Design. De Silva will be responsible for the design of all of the vehicles to be run by the joint venture, each of which will be featured on Hongqi’s S-model line. The Hognqi S9 will most likely make its public debut in April during Auto Shanghai.