China's BYD to bring new premium brand to Europe
BYD sold more than 4.2 million vehicles worldwide last year, more than 90% of them in China. Sales of Denza - formerly a 50:50 joint venture with Mercedes and now wholly owned by BYD - accounted for just over 3% of the group's total sales.
The group's special adviser for Europe, Alfredo Altavilla, said
Denza would be the technological forerunner for the group.
It will anticipate tech features that will later appear on BYD brand cars,
he said after the presentation at Milan's Design Week, also attended by Executive Vice-President Stella Li.
Denza sales in the region will start at the end of the year with the EV version of its 1,000 horsepower Z9 GT sport wagon, and with a hybrid version in early 2026.
The group did not give further details of its commercial strategy and product plans for Europe. The price of the first model, still undisclosed, will exceed the highest car price in BYD's current European range, of 72,000 euros.
The Denza range will also include, from the end of this year, the D9 van, while two off-road vehicles could be added in the future, Altavilla said.
The aim is to make Denza a full-liner premium brand,
he said, adding it targets both traditional premium clients and younger customers, who have a particular interest in technology.
The Denza models will be manufactured and exported from China, although BYD plans to start production at its first European plant in Hungary in October.
A second BYD plant in Türkiye is expected to start production in March 2026. When fully operational, they will have a combined production capacity of 500,000 cars per year.
