Red Flag opens pre-sales for customizable L5

China's top luxury car brand, Red Flag (also known as Hongqi), launched pre-sales for its customizable L5 series Dec 11, becoming China's first luxury car brand to offer personalized services.

Compared with the original L5 series, the new edition provides buyers with nearly 50 types of customized services. The service will be limited to 100 cars, with each costing over 6 million yuan ($906,000).

Produced by FAW Car Co Ltd, Red Flag has been covering multiple lines of limousines, cars mainly serving as transportation for high-ranking officials and foreign visitors. This new line announces a transition from serving only officials to serving citizens.

The series' design was inspired by the previous Hongqi CA770 and CA7600J, which were used in National Day parades in 1965 and 2009, respectively. The series was considered a work of art with an exterior decorated with jade and interior with rosewood and cream-white leather.

Notably, the design features Chinese culture, with the golden sunflower logo in the middle of the steering wheel symbolizing long life and good luck.

This heritage-laced design is blended with new technologies, including an infotainment system installed with screens on seat backs, which aims to create a more entertaining experience for passengers.

The series also adopts a wheelbase of 3.4 meters. The output is 408 horsepower and 550 Newton-meters. Although it does not specify maximum speed and acceleration, it has a six-speed automatic transmission which produces more power with less fuel consumption.

The brand was first introduced at the National Day parade in October 1959, with 10 CA72 Red Flag cars being showcased. The CA72 was modeled on a Chrysler limousine with technological help from Soviet experts.

Seen as a symbol of the country's industrial progress, the brand has become the car of choice for National Day parades ever since.

It also serves as transport for state visits by foreign officials. Take the L5 series as an example. It first debuted in 2013, when former French President Francois Hollande took a ride on his official state visit.