CHANGCHUN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. company SILK EV LLC set up a joint innovation center in China and Italy Wednesday to develop a super sports model for the iconic Chinese sedan brand Hongqi.
The U.S. firm plans to invest 25 million U.S. dollars in the innovation center that is located in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun.
The innovation center will partner with China's leading automaker FAW Group and leading global auto tech companies to support the development of the Hongqi S series.
SILK EV LLC will invest 10 billion yuan (about 1.42 billion U.S. dollars) in the next five years to build Hongqi S series products, aiming to make it a world-famous luxury sports car brand. The company, headquartered in New York, has a wholly owned research, development and production center in Modena, Italy.
Unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show last year, the S9 is Hongqi's first super sports model, which boasts a maximum speed of 400 kmh and accelerates to 100 kmh within 1.9 seconds. It is equipped with a newly developed V8T hybrid system with 1,400 horsepower.
Hongqi, meaning "red flag," is China's iconic sedan brand. The brand was established in 1958 and has been used as the vehicle for parades at national celebrations.
Despite the coronavirus epidemic, Hongqi sold more than 39,500 cars in the first four months this year, up 111 percent year on year. Enditem
