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At the 2023 Shanghai International Auto Show, FAW Red Flag officially released the new generation Red Flag L5 and opened the pre-sale at the same time. According to the internal product planning of the Red Flag brand, the new generation of Red Flag L5 is positioned as a "top car". The appearance design of the new car basically continues the classic shape of the previous Red Flag L5 and continues to take the retro route of paying homage to the classics.

From the subjective point of view, the front of the new generation Red Flag L5 is more advanced and exquisite than the current model, and the visual impact has become stronger. Specifically, the size of the front grille of the new generation Red Flag L5 is further enlarged, and the front face becomes thicker by using the red flag family vertical banner treatment inside. The classic retro round lamp continues to be retained, and even the style of the lampshade is the same as that of the current model, but the internal structure has been redesigned, and the shape of the steering light has been reoptimized to integrate with the fog lamp. At the same time, the new generation L5 front is equipped with a brand new front red flag, and can be equipped with two-color body color, blue body and white roof two-color highlight unique, appear more young business.

On the side of the car body, the new generation Red Flag L5 not only maintains the outline of the model, but also further lengthens the length of the car. At the same time, compared with the current model, it is passivated in some areas, which is not as square as the current model looks. At the same time, the new car adds a rear corner window design to the C-pillar, and the rear door continues the opening mode of the previous generation of models, and does not use a split door. In the rear part, the new generation Red Flag L5 continues to use the vertical arrangement taillight group shape, but its taillight and rear box door are redesigned, the taillight group is more slender and three-dimensional, and the modeling style is different from that of the current model. In addition, the exhaust system shape from the bilateral four circular design, adjusted to bilateral a total of two quadrilateral shape.

In terms of interior decoration, the overall layout of the new generation Red Flag L5 is consistent with the current model, but it looks more exquisite. The new car continues to use horizontal penetrating center console design, and the full LCD dashboard and multimedia display continue the embedded style. The co-driver dashboard is decorated with wood pattern, and there is a large area of physical keys in front of the middle block, which does not integrate all functions into the central control screen. At the same time, the car is covered with a large area of leather, even some areas that are less touched, which is in line with the identity of a top car. As a top-tier car, the new generation of Red Flag L5 rear seats are upgraded with independent electric adjustment, and seat control buttons are designed on the rear door panel. At the same time, the rear central handrail of the car is equipped with a multi-function control area, which can operate double-zone air conditioning, seat massage / heating / ventilation and so on.

Hongqi L5 is a 100% independent intellectual property luxury sedan built by China FAW after officially launching Hongqi L platform product development and production preparation. As the flagship model of Red Flag on sale, Red Flag L5 Custom Edition offers six body color schemes for consumers to choose from, while maintaining the classic elements derived from CA770 and the front design of the 2008 CA7600J inspection car. In terms of size, the current Hongqi L5 has a length, width and height of 5555/2018/1578mm and a wheelbase of 3435mm, which is positioned as a luxury large car. In terms of power, the Hongqi L5 is equipped with a 6.0L V12 engine with a maximum power of 408 horsepower and a peak torque of 550 Nm, which is matched by a six-speed manual integrated gearbox.

Red Flag L5 has a very special status in the hearts of Chinese people. it is a national leader's car and a state guest car, while the customized version of the car for the civilian market is even more noble than top luxury cars such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley due to production restrictions and sales restrictions. it also highlights the scarcity of the car. At present, the known owners of the Hongqi L5 custom version are Cao Dewang and Jin Dong, of which Cao Dewang is the first owner of the Hongqi L5 limited customized version, and Jin Dong is also the spokesman of the Hongqi brand.

At the beginning of 2018, FAW Red Flag released a new brand strategy in the Great Hall of the people. Xu Liuping confirmed the strategic goal of building the new Red Flag into a "new noble brand" that is "number one in China and marked in the world". It also puts forward the goal of red flag sales reaching 100000 units by 2020, 300000 units by 2025 and 500000 units by 2035.

To achieve this goal, Red Flag quickly launched the H5 and HS5, and the red card brand sold 33000 vehicles for the whole year in 2018. In 2019, Red Flag launched another HS7, with a starting price of nearly 300000 vehicles. In 2020, Red Flag launched H9, priced between 30.98 and 539800 yuan, against Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5-Series and other models. At the end of 2020, Hongqi launched the most expensive model in history, the E-HS9, with a price range of 509800 yuan to 729800 yuan.

Sales show that the Red Flag brand sold 99331 vehicles in 2019, 196684 and 299684 respectively from 2020 to 2021. Affected by the epidemic and spare parts supply, Hongqi brand sold 295691 vehicles wholesale in 2022. Although it failed to meet Xu Liuping's target of 400000 vehicles, it increased nearly 80 times compared with five years ago.

In 2021, FAW Group ushered in the best performance in history, with operating income of 707 billion yuan and net profit of 48 billion yuan. In 2022, which just ended, under the background of the disturbance of "lack of core expensive electricity" and declining revenue, FAW's profit increased to 49 billion yuan instead of falling.

FAW is also ambitious for new energy vehicles. On January 8, 2023, FAW released the global strategy of Red Flag New Energy Brand. Xu Liuping said: "Red Flag Brand will promote the electrification of all models by All in New Energy." A more detailed goal is that the total sales of the Red Flag brand will reach 1 million by 2025, of which more than 500000 new energy vehicles will be sold. By 2030, the total sales of Red Flag brand will exceed 1.5 million, and new energy vehicles will become the main body of sales.

During the Shanghai Auto Show, Red Flag announced the positioning and description of the three sub-brands, namely, "Red Flag Golden Sunflower", "Red Flag New Energy" and "Red Flag Energy Saving car". The logo of the Hongqi Golden Sunflower brand is "Golden Sunflower", and the new generation of Red Flag L5 mentioned above belongs to the brand. Hongqi New Energy sub-brand products focus on electric vehicles, the new car E001 and the new SUV E202 will be released during the auto show, of which E001 will be launched in November and E202 will be launched in February 2024. The red flag energy-efficient car brand is the main source of red flag sales at present. The new cars brought by the auto show include the red flag H6, the new red flag HS5, the new red flag HS3 and the new red flag HS7.

On February 23, Xu Liuping stepped down as chairman and party committee secretary of China first Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and was transferred to the all-China Federation of Trade unions as party group secretary, vice chairman, and first secretary of the Secretariat of the all-China Federation of Trade unions. He has become the helm of the automobile company that has been promoted to the ministerial level fastest in the automobile industry. When Xu Liuping was at the helm of FAW, Xu Liuping's drastic reforms brought obvious changes to FAW Group. The once-endangered Red Flag brand also became a second-tier luxury car brand. Now that Xu Liuping takes office, FAW Group has not yet announced the next leader. Where will the Red Flag brand go?

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