Who is Denza?

Denza is the fine purveyor of fancy electric and plug-in hybrid cars that hails from Shenzhen in the Guangdong province in southern China. What’s that? Isn’t that where BYD is headquartered? Why yes – it could have been coincidence in a city of 17.5 million people, but Denza is actually a sub-brand of BYD. 

It’s also the answer to the question ‘What would happen if a huge global carmaker like Mercedes tried to start a joint venture with an sizeable but largely China-based manufacturer (BYD) to make luxury EVs but then bailed out because sales were disastrously low?’

Everyone’s doing fine now, but Denza has been mildly reinvented as a tech showcase for all the crazy gains BYD’s engineers are making in all sorts of areas. And look, it's building a supercar, didn't even need you anyway Mercedes. 

And where does the name come from? It’s an anglicised version of the Chinese name for the brand, Tengshi, which means ‘rising power’ – which is apt when you consider that the company’s aforementioned Z supercar (er, above) has 1,604hp. 

Here's a Denza going up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. So shiny you could see your face in it, if you were actually there

When did Denza start?

​Denza is probably the oldest car company you’ve never really heard of – you hear it’s a new Chinese brand and you just assume it was started last week by the marketing company in Amsterdam that won the pitch to a group of ambitious but misguided Chinese board members, but actually Denza was started in 2010.

Mercedes and BYD started Denza in 2010, but it was 2014 before the new outfit managed to put its first car on sale. The Denza EV looked like a bad Mercedes B-Class knockoff, largely because it was. 

Fast forward 10 years and Mercedes is gone, bought out by BYD, and Denza has a distinctive look that it has managed to develop – huge looking cars with bold front ends and massive wheels. It’s not subtle, but it does look expensive and that’s the main thing. 

This is the Denza badge. Looks like the necklace the old lady chucked in the sea at the end of Titanic

How many cars did Denza sell in the UK last year?

Well, none actually. It hasn’t even sold any cars in 2026 yet, it’s brand spanking new. 

Worldwide, Denza sold a sniff under 160,000 cars in 2025, though that was with a target of 300,000. So far during the summer months of 2026 the brand has hit 20,000 sales a month as it’s launched into new markets. 

But 2027 will be the year to watch – in the UK the company will hit the ground running with a solid range of cars on sale. Which leads us to...  

The new Denza Bao 5 off-roader goes on sale in the UK very soon – we think it looks sort of cute

What cars does Denza build?

It’s a Denstravaganza at the moment – the brand only just started selling cars in the UK over the summer, but we’ve got the Z9GT saloon/coupe/hatch thing and the posh D9 airport run MPV already on sale, with customer deliveries set to start later in the year. Then the Bao 5 off-roader is going on sale in October. 

Not only that, but Denza also has a £150k electric supercar, the Z, going on sale before the end of the year too. We had a little look at it during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 

Does anyone want to dunk the price of a small house on an electric sports car from a company they’ve not really heard of? Probably not, which is why Denza hired Daniel Craig as a badly photoshopped mascot to promote the brand. 

This is Daniel Craig. He'll be able to spend the money on a better haircut. Suit looks lovely though

What other brands is Denza associated with? 

Well, there’s BYD. Mercedes of course, but not anymore. Yangwang is another luxury sub-brand of BYD, though we’re still not sure what it’s actually for. It’s set to sell hideously expensive EVs when it launches in 2027, as opposed to the prohibitively expensive Denzas. 

This is the Denza D9 MPV – a PHEV that has a 58.5kWh battery and starts from £75k

What warranty does Denza offer?

Denza doesn’t have any warranty details on its website yet (hasn’t delivered any cars), but we do know that BYD generally speaking offers a six-year general warranty on its cars, plus eight years on t;,he battery. 

The company has said that it’s going to do things differently to traditional models – you’ll be able to deal with the company through its app, plus when your car is due for service or an appointment at the garage they’ll come and pick it up from your house. Isn’t that nice. 

The Z will be a supercar you can use every day with BYD's fancy battery tech inside it

How can I buy a Denza?

As far as we can tell there are no official Denza dealers up and running yet, but if you pop down your local BYD place, head for the reception desk and ask for Dave, he’s got a mint Z9GT round the back that you’ll buy as soon as you see it. 

There are definitely some Denza dealers on the way, but what we think the brand is going to do is follow some of its premium competitors in setting up pop-up shops and similar at prime locations like the posh bit of Westfield and wherever else rich people can be found. The polo? 

This could be a Denza dealership, looks well swanky in there doesn't it