(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- China's first luxury car brand Hongqi will recruit dealers to expand its dealership network into over 300 cities across the country. Since Xu Liuping has been appointed as the new chairman of FAW Group Corp., also known as First Automative Works, a state-owned car maker based in Changchun, China's northeastern Jilin province, which owns FAW Car Co. [SHE:000800] that makes Hongqi brand cars, he has initiated a number of sales plans to turn the brand into China's main luxury car brand. The dealer recruitment plan is seen as part of the new strategy at the company.

In the brand's largest dealer recruitment plan, the company proposes to divide the new Hongqi 4S dealership stores into seven categories ranging from A to C3, with a construction area of 1,200 to 5,000 square meters and expected investment amount of up to CNY21.5 million (USD3.24 million), online news outlet The Paper reported.

Hongqi's dealers will open stores in smaller and prefecture-level cities apart from major metropolis centers. To reduce the cost of dealers and speed up opening of 4S stores, Hongqi will provide the dealers with higher-level supporting policies than those provided by other domestic car enterprises, the company said in a statement.

Previously, Hongqi's dealers invested in the construction of flagship stores only in key first-tier cities, resulting in only 22 such dealerships in the country over the past three years, creating only a limited dealership network.

Hongqi is known as the car that served country's leaders. The brand's sales have somewhat stalled in recent years, which prompted a major shake-up in the company management last September.