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Plans for Australia includes an 850kW shooting brake, and could include a $250,000 SUV in coming years.
Electric Cars
Denza is looking to expand quickly in Australia, with a range of models that could include a luxury shooting brake.
The fledgling luxury brand is also looking to expand its dealership footprint from the seven currently listed online to 20-25, according to a company executive.
Denza has launched in Australia initially with two four-wheel drive SUVs to choose from.
The five-seat Denza B5 starts from $74,990 plus on-road costs, while the larger Denza B8 costs $91,000 plus on-road costs. Both come with a petrol plug-in hybrid powertrain.
“We would like to have four, maybe five cars this year.” Mark Harland, Chief Operating Officer of Denza Australia, told Drive.
“Another car that is being launched in Europe, that’s no secret, is the Z9 GT shooting brake. That car will be available later in the year as right-hand drive.” Harland continued.
“If everything goes according to plan, that’s a car I would like to bring to Australia later in the year.”
The Denza Z9 GT is available with either electric or plug-in hybrid powertrains, with either 850kW or 640kW total power figures respectively.
The plug-in hybrid variant of the Denza Z9 GT PHEV comes with an electric-only driving range rating of 400km, from a 63.82kWh battery pack.
The Denza website in Australia currently has what looks like a Z9 GT blurred under a ‘coming soon’ headline, along what looks to be a people mover.
The latter could be the Denza D9, which is a fully electric people mover with up to 600 kilometres of driving range (according to more lenient NEDC testing) and room for seven on-board with luxurious captain’s style chairs in the second row.
Denza in Australia has sourced its first two models from another BYD subsidiary, called Fangchengbao. In it’s home market of China, the Denza B5 and B8 are sold as as the Fangchengbao Leopard 5 and Leopard 8 respectively.
Denza could also look further up the ladder at Yangwang for future models, which is another luxury brand underneath the BYD umbrella.
This includes the ultra-luxury U8 hybrid SUV – famous for its floating ability shown online – and the U9 electric supercar with trick jumping suspension.
When asked about what we can expect from Denza next in Australia, Harland told Drive:
“We’re looking at everything. Fangchengbao is really about off-road vehicles. And, then there’s the higher-end YangWang we’re looking at."
However, Harland acknowledged the challenges of making a quarter-million dollar car make sense in the Australian market.
"We’re not ready to bring a $250,000 U8 into the market, because I want to get some runs on the board." Harland said.
“I want to build out our volume, I want to build out our dealer network. I want to build out our service and support capabilities. And our brand reputation, before I would ask an Australian to pay $250,000.”
“That’s a great thing about working with Denza and BYD, We’re spoilt for options, and it’s really a matter of just finding the right time and place to bring these.”
“But SUVs are what Australians like to drive, so those are the ones that are usually on the top of the wish list.”
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Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell
