Chinese state-owned automotive corporation FAW and US-based company Silk EV will begin to construct a car factory in Italy specializing in producing electrified supercars from Hongqi.
The Silk-FAW joint enterprise hopes to finalize its land acquisition deal in Reggio-Emilia in early August. In September, the company will begin building the factory along with a research center and a new brand HQ. The investment exceeds one billion euros.
All electric and hybrid vehicles that will roll off the assembly lines will wear the Hongqi badge. The sales were slated to begin in 2023, but it looks like they might get postponed now.
Hongqi revealed the S9 Concept (shown in the gallery and the video here) a couple years ago, announcing a production run of 70 such cars priced from $1.5 million. Each was envisioned with a part-electric powertrain rated at 1,400 PS (1,381 hp / 1,030 kW). The launch time was projected at 1.9 seconds and the top speed at 400 km/h (248 mph).