The BYD’s luxury new energy vehicle brand Yangwang will enter Europe in 2026 to rival Bentley, Porsche, Lotus, and Ferrari. It will follow the Denza high-end brand, set to launch early next year. The Yangwang’s current bestselling model in China is a full-size EREV off-roader, the U8, that can float on water.
Yangwang is BYD’s luxury brand launched in January 2023 in China. Its first model – the U8 SUV – started domestic sales on September 20, 2023. The U8 became the most expensive of China’s mass-produced cars with a price tag of 1,089,000 yuan (151,750 USD). On February 25, 2024, Yangwang launched the U9 EV supercar, which costs 1,680,000 yuan (234,100 USD). The brand’s third model entered the local market on March 27, 2025. It is the high-end U7 sedan with a price range of 628,000 – 708,000 yuan (87,520 – 98,660 USD).
There were a lot of rumors about a global launch of the Yangwang brand. BYD heated this discussion by bringing the Yangwang U8 SUV to the public at the 2024 Geneva Motor Show in February 2024. In July last year, two Yangwang models were shown at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024. However, BYD didn’t share official plans about the European launch.
Yangwang’s European launch confirmed
BYD vice president Stella Li told Autocar, a British car magazine, on July 21 that the company’s plan is to bring Yangwang into Europe. It will follow the Denza brand, set to launch in early 2026. There is no information about the upcoming Yangwang model line for Europe. CarNewsChina expects that the U8 SUV will become the brand’s launch model in Europe.
The Yangwang U8 is a full-size SUV that stands on the E4 platform. Its dimensions are 5319/2050/1930 mm and a wheelbase of 3,050 mm. The U8’s front end adopts a large grille, LED running lights, and headlamps integrated into the front bumper. It has a LiDAR sensor on the roof, a swing-out tailgate, and retractable door handles.
The Yangwang U8 adopts the DiSus-P hydraulic suspension and four electric motors with a combined peak power of 880 kW (1,180 hp) and 1,280 Nm peak torque. Under the hood, the U8 has a 2-liter ICE acting as a generator. The car accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds. It also has a 49.05 kWh LFP battery pack for 180 km of range. The mixed range reached 1,000 km. The biggest quirk of this car is its capability of floating on water and sailing at 3 km/h.
Inside, the Yangwang U8 has five seats. The car’s center console adopts a 23.6-inch instrument panel complemented by a 12.8-inch main touchscreen for 12.8 inches, and a 23.6-inch front passenger’s screen. There is also a 70-inch augmented reality head-up display and 22 speakers from Dynaudio.
According to China EV DataTracker, the Yangwang U8 delivered 10,126 units between November 2023 and June 2025. However, its sales volume has seemingly dropped lately. BYD sold 94 units of the U8 SUV in May 2025 and 64 units in June 2025.
