(Yicai Global) Jan. 10 -- FAW Group’s luxury vehicle brand Hongqi will redirect all efforts to electric vehicles and aims for them to make up half of sales by 2025, the chairman of the Chinese auto giant said.

Hongqi’s new capacity and investment on technological innovation will be redirected to new energy vehicles, Xu Liuping said at a press conference yesterday, according to a statement from the high-end brand.

FAW targets sales of one million vehicles for Hongqi by 2025, half of which will be new energy vehicles, and 1.5 million units by 2030, with NEVs constituting the bulk, Xu noted. Hongqi sold 310,000 cars last year, up 3 percent from 2021.

Hongqi has stopped investing in capacity and R&D for fossil fuel-powered cars, except for special purpose vehicles, since the second half of last year, Xu added.

Three new Hongqi NEVs will be unveiled soon, with another 15 models to be released in the next three years. A sedan will begin mass production and hit the market in the second half of this year. A sport utility vehicle with an 800-volt fast-charge battery is expected to debut by year’s end. And a battery electric sedan with autonomous driving capabilities will be available for sale next year.

The carmaker also plans to expand in high-end markets overseas. Aiming to sell 10 percent of its vehicles overseas by 2025 and 25 percent by 2030, it will build over 700 Hongqi experience spaces, 1,000 service networks, and 600,000 charging piles and battery swap stations abroad.

Hongqi’s E-HS9 entered the Norwegian, Dutch, and Swedish markets in September 2021, with total sales exceeding 2,400 units since then.

Editor: Futura Costaglione