Hongqi Electric SUV by China FAW Shows How Good Design Elevates Brand Identity

How China FAW's Innovative Design and International Award Recognition Illustrate the Strategic Value of Heritage Brands in Electric Mobility

What happens when a brand that has served as a symbol of national pride for over six decades decides to reimagine itself for the age of electric mobility? The answer involves more than engineering prowess or battery technology. The transformation requires a profound understanding of design as strategic communication. For enterprises navigating the transition from traditional automotive manufacturing to electric vehicles, the question of how to maintain brand equity while signaling innovation represents one of the most fascinating challenges in contemporary industrial design.

The Hongqi E-HS9, created by designers Wei Yu, Lixue Wang, and Zhenjiang Sun for China FAW Group Co., Ltd., offers a compelling case study in how thoughtful design choices can bridge decades of heritage with forward-looking technology. The Hongqi E-HS9 full electric SUV accomplishes something remarkable: the vehicle speaks two languages simultaneously. One language tells the story of a brand born in 1958, one that became synonymous with state occasions and ceremonial prestige. The other language speaks of environmental responsibility, digital connectivity, and the future of transportation.

The vehicle received Platinum recognition in the A' Car and Land Based Motor Vehicles Design Award in 2023, placing the Hongqi E-HS9 among works recognized for exceptional innovation and meaningful contribution to society. For brand managers, CEOs, and design directors considering how their organizations might approach similar transformations, the Hongqi E-HS9 example offers specific insights into the mechanics of design-driven brand evolution.

The Strategic Architecture of a Design Language

When enterprises invest in developing a proprietary design language, the organizations create something more valuable than aesthetic consistency. The enterprises build a visual vocabulary that communicates complex brand narratives without words. The Hongqi E-HS9 employs what the creators call the "Shang Zhi Yi" design language, a term that carries cultural weight while establishing a framework for future product development.

Consider what developing a proprietary design language means from a strategic perspective. A design language functions as an intellectual asset, one that differentiates products in crowded markets and creates immediate recognition among consumers. For China FAW Group Co., Ltd., developing the Shang Zhi Yi vocabulary meant establishing visual cues that could carry forward across multiple vehicle lines, creating coherence while allowing individual expression.

The front face of the E-HS9 demonstrates the design language principle through what the designers describe as a "straight waterfall" treatment with an embedded flag motif. The waterfall design choice accomplishes multiple objectives simultaneously. The treatment creates a distinctive silhouette recognizable from considerable distances. The flag motif references the brand's heritage in a manner that feels contemporary rather than nostalgic. The front face design establishes a visual signature that can evolve across future models while maintaining family resemblance.

For enterprises considering their own design investments, the lesson from the E-HS9 extends beyond automotive applications. A well-developed design language creates compounding returns over time. Each new product that employs the vocabulary reinforces the system, building recognition and association. The initial investment in establishing the language pays dividends across the entire product portfolio.

The chrome-plated decorations surrounding the C and D pillars draw inspiration from Chinese classical totems, specifically the ring fish motif. The ring fish detail reveals another dimension of strategic design thinking. By incorporating cultural references that resonate with primary markets while remaining aesthetically compelling to international audiences, the design team created something that travels well across contexts. The embedded charging indicator lights within the pillar elements demonstrate how functional requirements can enhance rather than compromise cultural expression.

Cultural Heritage as Contemporary Design Asset

Heritage brands across industries face a peculiar tension. Brand history represents an enormous asset, one that newer competitors cannot replicate. Yet that same history can become a liability if the legacy positions the brand as backward-looking or resistant to change. The most successful heritage brands resolve the tension by treating brand history as raw material for contemporary innovation rather than as a constraint on future development.

The Hongqi brand carries exceptional historical weight. Born in 1958, the Hongqi brand served as the vehicle for Chinese leaders during significant national events. The state vehicle positioning created associations with excellence, ceremony, and national identity. The challenge for China FAW Group Co., Ltd. was to honor the Hongqi legacy while demonstrating that the brand could compete in the emerging electric vehicle market.

The E-HS9 addresses the heritage challenge through design choices that reimagine heritage elements rather than simply reproducing them. The taillight design, which the creators describe as blending "vertically and horizontally," creates an elegant and highly recognizable rear profile. The taillight treatment acknowledges the importance of presence and stature (qualities essential to the brand's identity) while achieving them through contemporary means.

For enterprise leaders evaluating similar transformations, the Hongqi approach offers a template worth considering. The question is rarely whether to abandon heritage or preserve heritage unchanged. The productive question asks how heritage elements can be translated into design languages appropriate for new contexts and new technologies.

The vehicle's substantial dimensions, measuring over five meters in length and weighing nearly 2,827 kilograms, speak to another heritage consideration. The Hongqi brand has historically been associated with formal occasions and distinguished passengers. The E-HS9 maintains the emphasis on presence and accommodation while delivering these qualities through electric architecture. The message communicated to consumers and stakeholders is one of evolution rather than abandonment.

Brand continuity matters enormously for brand equity. Research consistently demonstrates that consumers form emotional connections with brands that demonstrate continuity and values. Abrupt departures from established identity, even in pursuit of innovation, can erode the trust and recognition that heritage brands spend decades building. Thoughtful design creates the bridge between past and future that makes transformation possible without sacrifice.

Technology Integration Through Human-Centered Design

Electric vehicle development often emphasizes technical specifications: battery capacity, charging speed, range, and acceleration. The metrics matter, and the E-HS9 delivers impressive figures, including a 4.8-second acceleration time to 100 kilometers per hour and up to 700 kilometers of NEDC cruising range. However, the design team recognized that technology integration means more than achieving benchmark numbers.

The vehicle features what the designers call "seven-screen linkage," a system that allows multiple passengers to engage with individual entertainment experiences or participate in shared interactions. The seven-screen design choice reflects sophisticated thinking about how people actually use vehicles. Family travel involves different needs for different passengers. A system that accommodates individual preferences while enabling connection creates value that raw technical specifications cannot capture.

The independent sound zones represent another example of human-centered design. Rather than forcing all passengers to share a single audio environment, the vehicle creates personal acoustic spaces. The independent acoustic zone feature demonstrates attention to the diverse circumstances in which vehicles operate. Business travel, family journeys, and personal commuting involve fundamentally different social dynamics, and design that acknowledges the differences creates superior experiences.

The AR-HUD system projects navigation and driving assistance information 7.5 meters in front of the windshield, integrating digital guidance with the real-world visual field. The AR-HUD projection represents a thoughtful solution to the challenge of information presentation in vehicles. Traditional dashboard displays require drivers to shift attention away from the road. Augmented reality presentation maintains visual engagement with the environment while adding relevant information layers.

The Bluetooth digital key and remote app control extend the vehicle experience beyond moments of physical presence. Users can interact with the E-HS9 before approaching the vehicle, checking status, adjusting climate settings, or locating the vehicle in crowded environments. The automatic door handle pop-up when a hand approaches demonstrates attention to small moments that accumulate into overall experience quality.

For enterprises developing connected products across categories, the E-HS9 design choices illustrate an important principle. Technology integration serves human needs rather than existing as a demonstration of capability. Every digital feature in the E-HS9 addresses a specific use case or solves a particular challenge. Human-centered design discipline prevents feature proliferation for its own sake while ensuring that included technologies deliver meaningful value.

Safety Innovation as Design Philosophy

Electric vehicles present unique safety challenges related to battery protection during collisions. The E-HS9 development team addressed battery protection challenges through what the team describes as rigorous testing involving multiple collision scenarios, including sequential impacts designed to simulate loss-of-control accidents.

The battery protection system employs a full-coverage side protection structure constructed from ultra-high strength hot-formed steel. The ultra-high strength steel choice reflects engineering judgment about how to balance weight considerations with structural integrity. The system absorbs energy within the threshold area while providing transverse floor support to maintain structural completeness during impacts.

What makes the E-HS9 approach noteworthy from a design perspective is the integration of safety considerations into the overall vehicle architecture. The designers faced constraints that traditional vehicle development does not encounter. Battery placement and protection require specific accommodations that affect interior space, weight distribution, and crash energy management. The E-HS9 demonstrates that battery protection constraints can be addressed without compromising passenger accommodation or aesthetic objectives.

The double-layer protection approach combines structural battery protection with comprehensive passenger restraint systems. The redundancy reflects the design principle that critical safety functions should not depend on single points of success. The living space preservation focus during collision events addresses what ultimately matters most in vehicle safety: occupant protection.

For enterprises developing products where safety considerations intersect with innovation, the E-HS9 case study offers valuable perspective. The E-HS9 team approached new energy vehicle safety as an opportunity for leadership rather than as a compliance requirement. The research program involving serial collision testing went beyond standard certification requirements to understand real-world accident scenarios.

The orientation toward exceeding expectations rather than meeting minimums distinguishes products that earn recognition for excellence. The Platinum recognition from the A' Car and Land Based Motor Vehicles Design Award specifically acknowledges contributions to societal wellbeing, which safety innovation certainly represents.

International Recognition and Brand Elevation Strategy

When heritage brands seek to expand beyond traditional markets or establish credibility in new product categories, third-party recognition serves as valuable validation. The A' Design Award's Platinum designation for the E-HS9 places the vehicle among works recognized for exceptional innovation, professionalism, and contribution to advancing design boundaries.

The Platinum designation carries particular significance for brands operating in transitional moments. China FAW Group Co., Ltd. positioned the Hongqi brand for global export expansion following the 2018 strategy refresh. International awards create common reference points across cultural contexts, helping potential customers and partners understand quality positioning without requiring extensive familiarity with brand history.

The comprehensive evaluation process behind A' Design Award recognition examines multiple dimensions of design excellence. Technical innovation, aesthetic achievement, user experience quality, and societal contribution all factor into assessment. For enterprises, the multi-dimensional A' Design Award evaluation provides feedback that internal processes may not generate with equivalent rigor.

Design professionals and brand managers seeking to understand how recognized works achieve distinction can explore the platinum award-winning hongqi e-hs9 design to examine specific elements that contributed to the recognition. Detailed examination often reveals insights applicable to other product categories and design challenges.

Recognition also serves internal purposes within organizations. Design teams operate more effectively when team work receives external validation. The organizational commitment required to pursue excellence benefits from tangible acknowledgment that distinguishes exceptional achievement from competent execution. For China FAW Group Co., Ltd., the Platinum designation validates the strategic direction chosen during the 2018 brand refresh.

The publicity and documentation that accompany recognized designs create marketing assets with extended utility. Press coverage, exhibition opportunities, and yearbook inclusion extend the visibility of recognized work across audiences and timeframes that individual marketing efforts cannot typically achieve. The accumulated touchpoints contribute to brand awareness and preference development over time.

Future Implications for Electric Mobility Design

The E-HS9 represents one response to challenges that all heritage automotive brands currently face. The transition to electric mobility requires rethinking fundamental assumptions about vehicle architecture, performance characteristics, and competitive positioning. Design serves as the primary medium through which brands communicate their approach to the electric mobility transition.

The "double carbon" strategy that guided E-HS9 development reflects broader environmental commitments that increasingly influence both regulatory requirements and consumer preferences. Brands that demonstrate genuine engagement with sustainability through their products, rather than through marketing claims alone, build credibility that translates into market position.

The independently developed systems referenced by the design team, including the "QiYi," "QiSi," and "QiAn" platforms, suggest an approach to electric vehicle development that emphasizes proprietary capability over component assembly. The proprietary development choice has implications for long-term competitive advantage. Brands that develop core technologies retain greater control over product evolution and differentiation.

For enterprises observing the electric vehicle space, the E-HS9 illustrates how design thinking integrates with technology strategy, brand positioning, and market development. The domains of design, technology, and brand strategy often operate separately within organizations, with design serving an aesthetic or styling function disconnected from broader strategic conversations. The most successful electric vehicle programs demonstrate that design functions as an integrative discipline that gives physical form to strategic intent.

The seven-screen linkage and independent acoustic zones also suggest evolving expectations for vehicle interiors as autonomous driving capabilities develop. Current vehicles are designed around the assumption that at least one occupant will be engaged in driving tasks. As the driving assumption changes, interior design will increasingly resemble living spaces rather than cockpits. The E-HS9 approach to passenger experience anticipates elements of the autonomous transition while remaining appropriate for current use cases.

The wireless battery charging capability referenced in the design documentation points toward infrastructure evolution that will reshape electric vehicle ownership experiences. Design teams that anticipate infrastructure developments can create products that remain relevant as infrastructure matures, avoiding obsolescence cycles that erode customer confidence and brand equity.

Synthesizing Design Excellence and Strategic Value

The Hongqi E-HS9 demonstrates how thoughtful design creates measurable value across multiple dimensions. For China FAW Group Co., Ltd., the E-HS9 advances brand positioning, demonstrates technological capability, and establishes presence in the premium electric SUV category. The cultural heritage integration maintains connection with core brand identity while the contemporary execution signals readiness for future mobility challenges.

The Platinum recognition from the A' Design Award validates design choices that prioritize both innovation and responsibility. The safety engineering, user experience features, and environmental positioning all contribute to societal wellbeing alongside commercial objectives.

For enterprises considering their own design investments, the E-HS9 example illustrates the compounding returns that thoughtful design generates. The "Shang Zhi Yi" design language will inform future products. The safety innovations establish engineering credibility. The technology integration demonstrates capability that attracts partnerships and talent. Each element reinforces the others, creating momentum that extends well beyond individual product success.

Heritage brands face particular opportunities in moments of industry transformation. Accumulated brand equity creates starting positions that newer competitors cannot replicate. The challenge lies in translating brand equity into forms appropriate for new contexts. Design serves as the translation mechanism, converting historical strength into contemporary relevance.

What aspects of your own brand heritage might serve as raw material for design innovation rather than constraints upon innovation?