[Aika Auto 2021 Shanghai Auto Show Original]
At the Shanghai Auto Show, which opened on April 19, the new Hongqi supercar S9 was officially released and accepted global reservations. It is understood that the first batch of 99 units of the car is limited to the world, and will be officially delivered in the second quarter of 2022. During the auto show, Aika Hada had a dialogue with Walter De Silva, chief designer of the Hongqi S9, a well-known Italian designer who is the design director of the Volkswagen Group, responsible for the styling of brands including Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen and other brands. As the chief designer of Hongqi S9, Walter de Silva explained the Hongqi S9 from the perspective of modeling and aesthetic design, he said that the Hongqi brand is FAW,the soul of the automobile brand with a deep history in China, with red as its gene, looking forward to the future, based on its current brand genes, we inherit the classic, integrate the future to show the great soul of the Hongqi S9.
Mr. Walter is an authoritative design leader in the automotive industry and has made a number of important achievements in the field of automotive design. For example, in the car design competition of Alfa Romeo in 1998 and 2001, he won awards at Volkswagen three times. In addition, Mr. Walter's work has also won the Golden Compass Award from the Italian Industrial Association, which is the Oscar of the design competition. In 2014, as a professor at the Faculty of Design of the University of Bologna, he also received honorary titles in the field of design.
He has created countless classics in the car brands he has worked with. So, we can say that Mr. Walter is a legendary leading design master in the automotive industry.
Media: In the era of new energy and technology, we see that some old-fashioned traditional car companies have abandoned their consistent design style, how will the future design direction of the S series represented by Hongqi S9 consider its brand gene and its inheritance?
Walter de Silva: I want to tell you about the direction we designed the Red Flag S9 and the history of the brand. As a well-known brand in China, Hongqi brand has a strong long history, and it has a very strong inheritance of genes. It has a spirit of the Chinese element that carries a strong DNA, and it also represents the chinese culture, the spirit of the Chinese red flag. So with this as the keynote, we set the gene for the design of the Red Flag S series.
Hongqi brand is FAW's soul car brand with a deep history in China, with red as its gene. Looking forward to the future, based on its current brand genes, we will inherit the classics and integrate the future to show the great soul of Hongqi S9.
Hongqi S9 is based on history and the mission of the future, so you can see a very bright red flag element on the Hongqi S9, and you can see the iconic red line in the middle of the body. In the design process, we absorbed the essence of traditional Chinese culture, integrated elegance and passion, and created a very perfect new Hongqi S9.
Media: What are the core features and advantages of the design direction and design concept on the Hongqi S9 model? In addition, I don't know if you can talk about its product strength, which is its core advantage? In terms of design, I think we can talk about what kind of special highlights or highlights it has compared with other domestic design models.
Walter de Silva: The Design of the Red Flag S9 takes into account cutting-edge applications of aerodynamics, and it is also shown with a different kind of Chinese red element. The Hongqi S9 is at the forefront of aerodynamic and body design.
We are proud to use a lot of high-tech elements, and based on tradition, we have added a lot of excellent design. The Hongqi S9 is a hybrid supercar with a supercar that, in its details, is equipped with an electronic turbocharger supercharger supercharged V8 engine with a maximum output of 1400 horsepower. Judging from all the configurations of the Hongqi S9, it is to ensure that this car can play the best performance and bring us drivers a new driving experience.
Another point is the material. We benefit from its aerodynamic shape and high-strength carbon fiber lightweight components, which are able to make the Performance of the Hongqi S9 very excellent through very light materials.
To emphasize the difference between us and other brand models, our core competitive advantage is the combination of our aerodynamic design and carbon fiber, high-performance materials, but also give it a sense of beauty, the beauty of many sports cars is not available in other models, so we are proud to say that The Red Flag S9 model In addition to its excellent performance, its aerodynamic characteristics and functionality are also very perfect, which is an aesthetic performance.
Media: Hello, my question is hongqi S9 as a new energy supercar, what are its highlights in terms of electrification? Thank you.
Walter de Silva: The Faw-Hongqi S9 is a plug-in hybrid with a powerful engine and motor that works together flexibly to achieve low exhaust emissions while uncompromising performance. We did a lot of research on the development of this model. The battery equipped with the Hongqi S9 is very small and very lightweight, but it is a large capacity, which makes the vehicle's endurance performance exceptionally good. At the same time, the Hongqi S9 also has all the qualities of supercaring, so the Hongqi S9 has a very perfect performance in handling and performance.
The Red Flag S9 is also very good in terms of driving experience. As I said just now, the Hongqi S9 has reached all the elements that a sports car should have, whether it is performance experience, interior configuration, or perfect details, so that drivers can get a rich sense of pleasure in driving, but also feel exceptionally good driving performance.
Media: Hello, the question I want to ask is that the lines of the sports car should actually be able to more directly highlight the overall design concept, how can the brand elements of Hongqi be integrated with the S9 car, so that users know at first glance that it is a super sports car, an electric supercar, and a new energy sports car of the Hongqi brand?
Walter de Silva: To design this car, my team and I did a lot of research, especially as a sports car, its aerodynamic principles. How to make a supercar achieve the perfect combination of aerodynamics and modern technology is the direction we have been studying. While designing this Hongqi S9, we also studied the traditional Chinese classical art and our Italian aesthetic classics to achieve a perfect combination.
The body shape is smooth and three-dimensional, both beautiful and practical, so that the air flow can smoothly blow through the entire body, for the best aerodynamic efficiency.
In addition, we have also added the essence of Italian sports car design, and one of the Italian design principles we follow is Less is More.
We also introduced some technologies that other models don't have when designing the Fawcomm S9, boldly challenging the way aerodynamics were designed. It can be said that this new energy vehicle has opened up a new realm, we implanted a strong aerodynamic design concept from the designer's point of view, and then added future technology to form a perfect combination of all of them. We make the functional parts of the carbon fiber texture complement the red paint finish. Therefore, from the appearance and the degree of detail of the interior, it can be reflected that the Hongqi S9 has reached a new realm.
Media: In addition to the hongqi elements on the Hongqi S9, what other Chinese style and futuristic technology sense of design are there? What is Mr. Walter de Silva's favorite place?
Walter de Silva: I particularly appreciate the team's integration in terms of detail, the study of every detail of the polished body shape, every material used, is very in-depth. I would like to thank our team for their meticulous work.
I have designed a lot of cars and sports cars of world-renowned brands in my life, but when I designed the Faw-Hongqi S9 car, I especially poured my passion into it, I think the Faw-hongqi S9 is particularly different, and when the details are announced later, you can see what is different about it.
For me, China is a great country, I also love China very much, I like the essence of Chinese culture, the art of culture, the people of our two countries are passionate and creative when they create aesthetics. China and Italy are both big countries and have a history of thousands of years, so from the design point of view, we can't leave aside the inheritance of history and the genes of history. China and Italy have common elements, we use red as the main tone, red is the gene of our aesthetics, because there is a large proportion of red elements on the flags of both countries, so I rooted the red elements in the red flag S9. These all signify that the Hongqi S9 is a model that combines elegance and passion, aesthetics and history, and is also a model that I am very proud of for the culture, technology and art of the two countries.
During the design process, we were also honored to pay tribute to the deep friendship between the chinese and Italian peoples. I am proud to see that the Aesthetic Design of Italy can be integrated with Chinese culture, making the Hongqi S9 the top symbol of the Chinese supercar, which is a very benchmark supercar, and I feel very honored as a designer.
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