On September 22nd, the Hongqi G919 started pre-sales, launching three models: the four motor expansion version, the imperial version, and the limited edition, with pre-sale prices ranging from 359800 to 439800 yuan. This is the first rugged off-road SUV of the Hongqi brand to adopt a non load bearing body. Previously, Hongqi's product line mainly covered sedans, urban SUVs, and MPVs. The arrival of G919 means that Hongqi has officially entered the tough off-road track.

Red Flag chose to enter the game at this time, and the timing was quite delicate. On the one hand, "square boxes" are one of the few categories in the current passenger car market that is still expanding. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of 2026, the cumulative sales of 42 "square box" SUVs in China reached 447600 units. Industry organizations predict that the annual sales are expected to exceed 1.5 million units. On the other hand, Red Flag's own sales are declining. In the first half of 2026, the cumulative sales of the Hongqi brand reached 137800 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 38.8%, returning to the level of five years ago, ending eight consecutive years of positive growth. Obviously, Hongqi hopes to leverage the "square box" trend to enhance brand value and boost overall market performance.

G919 is not facing a blue ocean. The Hongqi G919 is positioned as a rugged off-road SUV with a non load bearing body. But among the 447600 "square box" sales in the first half of the year, urban light off-road vehicles accounted for over 70%, and less than 30% of the tough off-road vehicles that truly adopt non load bearing body. At the same time, in terms of price, the best-selling "square boxes" in the market are almost concentrated in the range of below 200000 yuan and above 350000 yuan. The products only include Prado, Tank 700, Leopard 8, as well as high-end versions such as Zongheng G700 and Mengshi M817, and their sales are limited.

What is even more severe is that the brand landscape tends to solidify. In the off-road vehicle market by 2025, Great Wall Motors will have a market share of about 47%, BYD will have a share of about 16.8%, and the two companies will have a combined share of about 64%. The top five companies in the market will have a concentration of 80%. In the high-end new energy "square box" market, Great Wall Motors and BYD have also secured their positions ahead of schedule. Red Flag is almost a new face in the consumer grade hardcore off-road market. Although it has accumulated military off-road experience before, it is not easy to make users pay for the Red Flag brand in this category.

In order to compete in the high-end new energy hardcore off-road market with limited capacity and duopoly, the Hongqi G919 is fully equipped in terms of product strength.

The new car is built on the Honghu off-road platform, with the core selling point being vector control four motors. Official data shows that the G919 has a comprehensive power of 620kW, a comprehensive torque of 1320N · m, a wheel end torque of 18500N · m, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 4.5 seconds; The self-developed eVTC vector control algorithm controls the torque error within ± 2.5N · m, and the four-wheel torque and speed are independently adjustable. It also supports differential steering and reduces the minimum turning radius from 5.3 meters to 2.5 meters.

In terms of powertrain, the new car is equipped with a 2.0T hybrid engine with a thermal efficiency of 48.83% and a 62.9kWh ternary lithium battery. The CLTC pure electric range is 280km, and the comprehensive range is 1350km; The entire series comes standard with an 800V silicon carbide high-voltage platform, which takes 12 minutes to charge from 30% to 80%.

In terms of off-road hardware, G919 adopts a non load bearing body and trapezoidal beam, with high-strength steel and ultra high strength steel accounting for over 90%. The beam has a torsional stiffness of 9500N · m/° and is equipped with three locks consisting of front and rear mechanical locks and energy neutral locks, with a locking time of 0.2 seconds.

In terms of safety, Hongqi claims that the vector four motor can lock the tire blowout wheel within 180 milliseconds, and stable driving can still be achieved at a tire blowout speed of 180 km/h; The battery has completed the ternary lithium multi needle puncture test, with a bottom impact resistance of over 1500J, which is about 10 times higher than the national standard. The temperature difference span of the whole vehicle test reaches 85 ℃, covering scenes such as Mohe minus 43 ℃, Turpan surface nearly 70 ℃, and high-altitude plateau at 5830 meters.

Intelligent configuration has also been elevated. The Hongqi G919 is equipped with the Sinan Intelligent Driving 5.0 Max, which is based on the Qualcomm 8650 chip and uses visible light, laser, and night vision three light fusion perception. The variable zoom digital LiDAR can recognize obstacles up to 50 centimeters square from 220 meters away; The cabin is equipped with Lingxi 5.0+for the first time, equipped with Qualcomm 8296P chip, integrated with Doubao and Qianwen dual models, which can control more than 700 vehicle functions, and parking does not rely on high-precision maps.

It is worth noting that G919 is also a significant price hike for the Red Flag brand itself. Currently, the sales base of the Hongqi brand is still concentrated in the 200000 yuan sedan segment. From January to July 2026, the cumulative sales of the all-new Hongqi H5 reached 60100 units, accounting for about 40% of FAW Hongqi's sales during the same period. Sales of higher priced models such as H9 and HQ9 were relatively sluggish. In this situation, whether G919 can establish itself in the market is also related to the success or failure of the Red Flag brand's resurgence in the high-end market.

According to the Red Flag Plan, the target for 2026 is set at 550000 vehicles, with the proportion of new energy exceeding 50%. But the sales of 137800 vehicles in the first half of the year only achieved 25% of the annual target. In terms of products, including the Hongqi G919, Hongqi will launch 9 new energy products within the year and 12 more in the next two years, covering pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended range, and accelerate overseas business development. Among them, G919, as a high-end new energy SUV, will be the first to test the premium ability of the Hongqi brand.

(Author Zhou Ju)