BYD launches Denza luxury brand in Europe ahead of arrival in Australia

Chinese car-making giant BYD has launched its Denza luxury vehicle brand in Europe with its first model – the near 1000hp Z9 sport wagon – planned for showrooms by the end of 2025.

Already confirmed for Australia and the United Kingdom (UK), the Denza brand is an upmarket version of BYD’s electric car range – with more tech, features and higher prices – the same way Lexus is the premium arm of Toyota.

It was formed in 2010 as a joint-venture with Mercedes-Benz, with the German car maker selling the last of its stake in the brand to BYD in 2024.

BYD sold 90 per cent of its cars in China in 2024 and is expanding across the globe, having arrived in Australia in 2022 – although it’s still to launch in the US, the largest market outside its native China.

Its move to Europe comes despite tariffs on Chinese-made cars, still a concern despite the spotlight on even more brutal, wider-ranging US tariffs.

The Denza brand, then, plays a key role in the worldwide reach, with the luxury brand announced for the United Kingdom earlier this year.

Like BYD, Denza will sell both battery-electric cars as well as hybrid-powered vehicles, but which models are coming to Australia when the brand launches here in the second half of 2025 is yet to be confirmed.

Denza offers five key models in China, but the models set for the UK – being the brand’s first right-hand drive market – could be a sign of what may end up in Australia when Denza goes on sale here.

The Denza B5 hybrid SUV is expected to spearhead the brand’s Australian arrival after the Toyota Prado-rivalling SUV was spied testing on Australian roads in right-hand drive.

While the B5 won’t be on sale in Europe from Denza Day One, a "pair of SUVs" mentioned at Milan Design Week by BYD’s special adviser for Europe, Alfredo Altavilla, may end up in Australian showrooms.

The Denza N7 and N9 SUVs share the same e-platform 3.0 as the BYD Dolphin small electric car and BYD Atto 3 currently offered in Australia.

It’s also the same platform used on the Denza D9 seven-seat electric van confirmed for European showrooms by the end of 2025.

The N7 has a 2940mm wheelbase – as long as a Volvo V90 large wagon – and at 4860mm is around the same length as a Toyota RAV4, with power coming from 230kW–390kW electric motor choices with a claimed 702km range.

The Denza N9 – which went on sale in China in February 2025 – is a larger, three-row six-seat plug-in hybrid SUV with a claimed range of up to 1302km, using a 152kW 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine and a pair of electric motors, one on each axle.

Stretched across a 3125mm wheelbase, the D9 is 5285mm long, 2030mm wide and 1830mm tall – but Denza claims it can still accelerate from 0–100km/h in 3.9 seconds.

It includes BYD’s ‘God’s Eye’ B driving assistance system which uses a 128-line lidar, five millimetre-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 14 cameras.

The N9 also offers ‘Yisanfang’ features, enabling it to crab walk (‘smart crab’), perform tank turns and recover from a high-speed tyre failure.

The N9 has been spied testing on the UK’s notoriously low-quality roads, suggesting a right-hand drive version is in the wings – and making a right-hook N7 a distinct possibility.

In Europe, Denza will launch with the electric Z9 GT sport wagon by the end of 2025 and a hybrid version in 2026.

Shown at the 2024 Beijing Motor Show, the battery-electric Z9 GT sport wagon is a 952hp (710kW) tri-motor ‘shooting brake’ capable of 0–100km/h in a claimed 3.4 seconds to rattle the Tesla Model S Plaid.