This is a Hanteng X7, seen in the Chinese capital Beijing in the summer of 2018. The good X7 was in a great shape, painted in black with gray wheel arches and its bog ‘n shiny grille. License plates are of Hebei province.
Hanteng is a Chinese brand founded in 2013, owned by private automaker Jiangxi Hanteng Automobile, based in Shengrao city in Jiangxi province. The brand’s logo is a beautiful jumping horse in silver on a red background.
The Hanteng X7 debuted in 2016 as the flagship SUV of the brand. Production continued until 2021. The X7 was eventually succeeded by the Hanteng X7 S, which is still in production today.
The Hanteng X7 was very luxurious inside, almost premium! It had faux leather seats, lots of faux wood, sporty round dials, and a 9-inch touch screen.
The X7 that I saw appeared brand new, with the factory protective plastic still covering part of the rear bench.
The Hanteng X7 could be had with two Mitsubishi-sourced engines: a 1.5 turbo with 162 hp and 215 Nm and a 2.0 turbo with 190 hp and 250 Nm. The engines were made in China by the Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine-making joint venture which sold, and still sells, engines to many smaller and mid-sized Chinese automakers. Hanteng showed PHEV and EV versions on auto shows but those models never made it to production.
Large light, lots of shine, HANTENG lettering, and big pipes.
The only transmission available was a 5-speed manual, which was old-school even for a small car maker in 2016. Hanteng didn’t sell a six-speed or an automatic. The X7 was a front-wheel drive car. Prices in 2016 started at just 83.800 yuan, which was an absolute bargain for the size and kind of car you got.
The badge had a lot of shine too, with the X7 font inspired by BMW. Characters are 汉腾 (Hànténg).
The Hanteng X7 was very rare in Beijing and other large cities in China, as always with these cars from small automakers. But the Hanteng brand sells pretty good in smaller second- and third tier cities in the endless Chinese hinterlands. So if you want to see lots of Hanteng cars; go there.
