BYD’s rise in the New Zealand market has been a relatively swift one - that brand launched here in 2022 with a single model - the Atto 3 - on offer, and the instant success of that car proved to be a solid base for pushing wider into new segments, as shown by the recent strong performance of New Zealand’s first plug-in hybrid ute, the BYD Shark 6.
But while now offering everything from small EVs (the Atto 3 and Dolphin hatch), mid-size SUV and sedan EVs (the Seal and Sealion 7) and PHEVs (the Shark 6 ute and Sealion 6 SUV), BYD is poised to push even further into the local market with the imminent launch of the Sealion 5 and Atto 2 (and possibly the small Seagull).
But there is more hovering on the horizon, with BYD’s local distributor, Ateco Automotive, currently hammering out the details to launch BYD’s luxury brand Denza here too.
Denza sits above the self-titled vehicles in BYD’s sprawling domestic market range, offering a more luxurious alternative to BYD’s mainstream cars. If that sounds familiar to you, then you are not wrong, as even BYD NZ general manager, Warren Willmot, will admit.
“BYD really is like the Toyota brand, and Denza is really like the Lexus brand. It's a more premium luxury proposition,” he said.
"We’ve made no secret that Denza is coming to the Australian and New Zealand markets. I think you'll find it'll probably launch in Australia first and it will be in the New Zealand market in 2026.”
Willmot said that Ateco was still working through the business structure for Denza in New Zealand, including quite how it is going to be distributed, with the company considering everything from direct sales via the internet, dedicated showrooms or through existing BYD dealerships.
"So, obviously we’re not even as far along as thinking what kind of models we'd be looking at from the Denza brand. But while we haven't confirmed anything yet, I do think we'll be launching with at least two to three models,” said Willmot.
“I've made no secret that we plan to have a car for every part of the market. Large cars, sports cars, whether that's from BYD, whether it's from Denza, whether it's from Yangwang, but you will see a car for every part of the market.”
Two cars that seem most likely to land in New Zealand wearing Denza badges aren’t even sold as Denzas in China, with Willmot eyeing the Chinese domestic market Fangchengbao Bao 5 and Bao 8 SUVs.
Likely to be offered here as the Denza B5 and B8, the pair are Land Rover-rivalling tech-laden body-on-frame off-roaders with a hefty helping of luxury that we recently got a taste of during a trip to China.
But there is a fairly broad range of other cars we could possibly see here under the Denza name including the Denza D9 people mover, the Denza N9 large SUV and the Denza Z9 GT performance fastback/shooting brake, all of which we recently drove in China.
While our drives in these cars were limited to a fantastically fun circuit coned-off in a sprawling car park, and an off-road circuit that was actually a quad bike course, the Denza vehicles all proved to be impressive in one way or another, making Willmot’s confidence in the brand taking BYD up several notches on the luxury ladder seem well placed.
Denza was originally formed in 2010 as a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz (then Daimler AG) before launching its first model in 2014. The company underwent restructuring in late 2021 when Mercedes-Benz reduced its shareholding to 10 percent of the company, before eventually transferring that stake over to BYD in 2024.
BYD began heavily investing in new Denza vehicles after the 2021 restructure, but clearly learned lessons from Mercedes-Benz, with the attention to luxurious detail being particularly noticeable.
When Denza comes here, we wouldn’t expect the cars to be cheap, but they will certainly embarrass comparable European luxury vehicles with their value for money and sheer technology.