Russian millionaire sets new record buying Chinese car for $1.5 million

The Hongqi Golden Sunflower Guoli Lanting Yayun has become the most expensive Chinese nominally used car ever sold abroad. According to CarNewsChina.com, the deal totaled $1.5 million.

The premium sedan went to its new owner, Russian businessman Stanislav Semenov, founder of Quantitative Trading Equal Fund, who currently lives in the United Arab Emirates. Semenov reportedly made a pre-order for the luxury car at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year.

Luxurious interior and ancient traditions

The main highlight of the Golden Sunflower is its interior, decorated with unique landscape patterns in traditional Chinese style. Surfaces are manually coated with 28 layers of natural varnish, then dried and polished for 60 days. The result is a texture that resembles jade. These intricate patterns appear throughout the cabin.

Hongqi’s engine

The car is powered by a four-liter V8 engine, designed in-house by Hongqi. The twin-turbocharged engine delivers a maximum output of 388 horsepower.

The engine is paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Thanks to this setup, the car accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.1 seconds.

Brand history

Hongqi is part of the FAW Group and was founded at the personal order of Mao Zedong in 1958. To this day, Hongqi vehicles are used in China as official cars for high-ranking government officials.

In Kazakhstan, Chinese cars are growing in popularity. In the first quarter of this year, half of the 20 best-selling automotive brands in the country were Chinese. Car sales are increasing at a double-digit pace, with Chinese manufacturers accounting for a growing share of new registrations, according to the Kazakhstan Automobile Union.