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Hongqi E-HS9 to Launch in Australia From About A$160,000

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November 5, 2026 — China's oldest car brand is about to test Australia's luxury SUV market with a full-size electric flagship, while Deepal and a wave of domestic launches show how fast the country's EV pipeline is moving.

Hongqi's E-HS9 leads a three-model Australian push

Hongqi — the 1958-founded premium marque of FAW Group and the limousine brand of Chinese state occasions — will officially launch in Australia with a brand event on November 11, 2026, and start customer deliveries on January 18, 2027. The first model is the E-HS9, a 5.2-metre, seven-seat electric SUV that squares up to the BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, Audi Q8 e-tron, Cadillac Vistiq, Volvo EX90 and the Chinese-built Zeekr 9X.

Hongqi E-HS9 flagship electric SUV, shown at a Shanghai event

The Australian-spec E-HS9 carries a 120 kWh battery, 492 hp (about 367 kW) and 606 Nm of torque, with a claimed 515 km of WLTP range (570 km on the more lenient CLTC cycle used in China). Hongqi is only the latest Chinese marque to chase overseas buyers at once; our Japan-market buyer's guide covers the same wave from another angle at https://evandauto.com/article/9000056/. It rides on air suspension, packs a panoramic sunroof, ventilated massaging seats and a Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chip, and offers L2+ driver assistance. Pricing is not yet final: Hongqi Australia CEO Jim Wu has said the E-HS9 will sit "around A$160,000," below its German rivals, though the company has only confirmed indicative figures and will lock final pricing at the November launch. For reference, the same model starts at €80,000 in Europe and ¥589,800 in China.

Two more models follow within six months: the smaller EHS5 (dual-motor all-wheel-drive, 85 kWh LFP battery, 522 km WLTP, expected around A$80,000, arriving April 2027) and a third SUV developed with Leapmotor. A sedan, the EH7, is also under consideration. Hongqi is imported and distributed by Greentech Smart EV, an Australian firm led by Jim Wu, a co-founder of Leapmotor. The brand targets roughly 1,000 sales a month by mid-2027 and 30,000 a year long term.

Deepal S05 puts a priced playbook on sale in the UK

While Hongqi is still pricing its debut, Deepal — Changan's EV brand — has already attached hard numbers to its European rollout. The S05 went on sale in the UK on October 19, 2026, after Deepal revealed European pricing at the Paris Motor Show on October 12: €38,990 to €44,990 across three variants.

Deepal S05 compact electric SUV

The European S05 spans battery-electric and plug-in hybrid versions. For a plain-English explainer on how plug-in hybrids and range extenders differ from battery EVs, see our guide at https://evandauto.com/article/9000049/. The PHEV pairs a 1.5-litre petrol engine (86 hp) with a 172 kW motor and an 18.4 kWh battery, delivering 100 km of WLTP electric range and up to 1,060 km combined; right-hand-drive variants are included for the UK. At 4,620 mm long with a 2,880 mm wheelbase, it targets the same family-SUV segment as the VW ID.4 and Kia EV5.

Deepal's European numbers explain the confidence: wholesale volumes topped 18,000 units in the first nine months of 2026, up 106% year on year, and the S05 led Spanish compact BEV SUV registrations three times within five months of arrival. Changan plans to invest €2 billion in Europe by 2030 and build out roughly 1,000 sales and service points. Its 55 kW DC plug-in charging is modest next to the 800V architectures we covered at https://evandauto.com/article/9000055/.

China's November launch wave: BYD, IM, Lynk & Co, smart

Back home, China's year-end product blitz hit a first-week peak on November 5. Among the models launching or debuting that day: the second-generation BYD Sealion 07 (BEV and DM-i plug-in hybrid), the IM LS8 NEO pure-electric SUV, the 2027 Lynk & Co 08 EM-P plug-in hybrid, and the smart #2. The same early-November window also brought the Geely Galaxy Xingyao 6 methanol-electric mild hybrid, the Dongfeng eπ M8, the Jetour Freeloader 7 and a facelifted Toyota Avalon — a reminder that BEV, PHEV and even methanol hybrids are all crowding the same fourth-quarter showrooms.

China Angle

Australia has become the clearest test of how far China's NEV brands can push beyond their home market. GAC, which arrived in late 2025, alone sold 665 electric vehicles in Australia in September 2026 — about 2.4% of all EVs sold that month — for a year-to-date total of 1,893, according to VFACTS data compiled by Zecar. Add BYD, MG, Deepal, Zeekr, Leapmotor, XPeng and now Hongqi, and Chinese nameplates make up a large share of the country's fastest-growing EV entrants. The pull is two-way: a brutal home-market price war (now under "anti-involution" regulation) pushes brands abroad for margin, while markets like Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East sit outside the 17–35% EU countervailing tariffs that constrain Europe-bound models. Deepal's 106% European growth through September 2026 shows the model can work — but servicing networks, brand trust and charging gaps in destination markets remain the real bottleneck, not the cars themselves.

中文简报

中国最老的汽车品牌红旗将于 2026 年 11 月 11 日在澳大利亚正式发布，首款车型为全尺寸七座纯电 SUV E-HS9，2027 年 1 月 18 日交付；澳规版搭载 120 kWh 电池、约 367 kW、WLTP 续航 515 km，CEO 吴保军透露定价"约 16 万澳元"，低于德系对手，最终价格将于发布时公布。半年内还将引入 EHS5 与一款和零跑合作开发的 SUV。深蓝 S05 已于 10 月 19 日在英国上市，欧洲售价 38,990–44,990 欧元，提供纯电与插混版本，其欧洲前三季度批售超 1.8 万辆、同比 +106%。国内方面，11 月 5 日迎来新品密集日：二代比亚迪海豹07、智己 LS8 NEO 纯电、2027 款领克08 EM-P 插混、smart #2 等同日上市，BEV 与 PHEV 同步上新。

Sources

Image credits: Hongqi E-HS9 — Wikimedia Commons (File: Hongqi E-HS9 010.jpg). Deepal S05 — Wikimedia Commons (File: Deepal S05 001.jpg). Both used under their respective Commons licenses.

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