01
Origins
The B11 of 2010 was Hawtai's declaration of design independence: a full-size saloon of imposing chrome-fronted styling — comparisons to various German grilles were freely offered — with the company's own turbodiesel among the engines, targeting official fleets and status-conscious provincial buyers at prices undercutting joint-venture rivals. Ambitions exceeded the sales; the B11 remained rare even domestically, and Hawtai's passenger-car programme continued its erratic course. The car survives in the record as pure aspiration-of-the-era: one of the many big sedans through which China's smaller manufacturers announced arrival in the early 2010s, before the market ruled that arrival required rather more than announcement. The survivors, where found, are period pieces of pure provincial confidence.
Hawtai B11 rear quarter · Zidongcheyanshe · CC BY-SA 4.0
