Hongqi, the luxury arm of Chinese automaker FAW, will launch the all-new H7 sedan on Sept 16 in China, according to NetEase Auto. The C-segment model opens a new chapter for the brand in the country's increasingly crowded new-energy sedan market, blending a hybrid powertrain with an advanced cockpit and driver-assistance suite.
The H7 is already in pre-sale with a guide price range of 191,800 to 231,800 yuan (about $27,000 to $32,700), though an early-bird offer trims that to 181,800 to 221,800 yuan (about $25,600 to $31,200). All prices are Chinese guide prices before taxes and incentives.
Hybrid powertrain and long-range focus
Power comes from Hongqi's Honghu intelligent hybrid system, pairing a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine with an electric drive unit. The system offers four modes - pure electric, intelligent hybrid, fuel-first and range-extender - with AI adjusting between them based on speed, load, battery state and navigation data.
The front-wheel-drive version delivers a combined 278 kW (373 hp), while the all-wheel-drive variant pushes that to 479 kW (642 hp) and 871 Nm of torque, sprinting from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is 200 km/h.
Hongqi quotes a CLTC electric-only range of up to 240 km and a combined range of 1,954 km. The CLTC figure is roughly 15-20% more optimistic than the WLTP standard, so a realistic WLTP estimate would be around 200 km (est.) for electric-only travel. The car runs on 92-octane petrol and posts a WLTC combined fuel consumption of 4.4 L/100 km when the battery is depleted.
Cockpit, driver assistance and safety
Inside, the H7 debuts Hongqi's Lingxi cockpit 5.0 system, powered by a Qualcomm 8295P chip with 24 GB of RAM and a 15.6-inch 2.5K central touchscreen. The system supports full-phone connectivity, a voice assistant built on Hongqi's own AI model plus ByteDance's Doubao large language model, and a customisable "scenario" feature that can trigger seat, climate and audio settings based on time, location, weather and vehicle state.
For driver assistance, the H7 uses Hongqi's Sinan system with 23 sensors in a 10-camera, one-radar, 12-ultrasonic configuration, running Zhuoyu's end-to-end 4.1 software. Highway and city navigation assistance work without high-definition maps, covering ramp merging, unprotected left turns and roundabouts, while parking support includes remote, memory and cross-floor memory functions.
Safety hardware includes a 9H4M cage body with 84% high-strength steel and 32% hot-formed steel, nine airbags as standard and 22 active safety features. The battery pack meets IPX8 sealing standards, withstanding submersion at 3 metres for 120 hours, according to the company.
The new H7 marks a strategic shift for Hongqi, moving the model's focus from traditional comfort and business attributes toward hybrid efficiency, intelligent cockpit features and new-energy safety - a positioning aimed squarely at buyers who want luxury, economy and technology in one package.
