BYD’s premium brand Denza to launch in Europe in April
Denza announced its European debut at Brera Design Week 2025 in Milan, which will be held between April 7 and 13. “We’re bringing the future of premium electric mobility to Europe. Stay inspired, stay ahead,” the company said on social media today.
The Brera Design Week is a main part of Furisalone, a collection of events spread across various areas of Milan during Design Week. Denza is the main sponsor of Fuorisalone 2025.
Denza is a failed joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and BYD, established in 2011. Each part held 50%, and the registered capital was 7.76 billion yuan (about 1 billion USD). However, Denza was never really popular, and sales were low and ten years later, in December 2021, Mercedes-Benz exited the joint venture as BYD increased its ownership to 90%. BYD obtained the rest 10% in 2024.
Once BYD took over, things started moving fast. Denza was positioned as a premium EV brand and launched five new models: the D9 minivan, N7 and N8 SUVs, Z9 sedan, and Z9 GT estate. In 2024, the company sold 125,674 cars in China and exported to Europe.
For Europe, Denza will directly compete with the German trio of BMW, Audi, and its former JV partner Mercedes. But Denza in Europe will be a bit different from Chinese Denza.
BYD currently operates three brands: Denza, Fang Cheng Bao, and Yangwang. However, BYD wants to “put everything under one luxury brand” for Europe. Thus, the Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5 SUV is set for European launch under the Denza brand.
From the Denza lineup, the estate Z9 GT is confirmed to launch in the Old Continent to rival the Porsche Panamera. Z9 GT was designed by Audi veteran Wolfgang Egger and starts at 334,800 yuan (46,100 USD) for the plug-in hybrid variant and 354,800 yuan (48,800 USD) for the all-electric version in China.
