The Denza Z9 GT can already be reserved in the Chinese market and will soon arrive in Europe

Denza, a subsidiary brand of BYD that also has a stake held by Mercedes-Benz, has just opened pre-sales in China for its new Gran Turismo Z9 GT. According to the company, at current exchange rates, the starting price of this model is around 43,000 euros in this market. Regular sales and deliveries are scheduled to begin next September.

What is probably most interesting for readers of Highmotor, however, is that Denza has also confirmed its intention to sell the Z9 GT in Europe in the near future, although it has not specified an exact date. The company already hinted at this possibility last spring with a public demonstration of a prototype in Stuttgart, stating at that time that this model would play a key role in the company’s global sales.

The design of the Z9 GT is the work of Wolfgang Egger, former chief designer at Audi and current head of design at BYD. Visually, the Z9 GT clearly bears some resemblance to the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo, and it also competes with it in terms of performance at a clearly lower price. Notably, the combined output of the Z9 GT’s three electric motors reaches 710 kW. The front motor delivers 230 kW, while each of the rear motors provides 240 kW.

One version for every type of customer

Denza offers three plug-in hybrid versions of the Z9 GT and two fully electric versions that can already be reserved in the Chinese market, all with all-wheel drive. The hybrid versions offer a combined range of 1,100 kilometers under the Chinese CLTC homologation cycle, while the electric versions reach 630 kilometers per charge. The latter can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, while the plug-in hybrid versions are two tenths slower.

At 5.18 meters long, 1.99 meters wide and 1.50 or 1.48 meters high, depending on the version, the Z9 GT is, as one would expect, a vehicle of generous dimensions. The same goes for its wheelbase of 3.125 meters. Denza also plans to launch a saloon variant before the end of the year, called simply Z9, with very similar dimensions but, obviously, less luggage space.

This vehicle is based on BYD’s e3 technology and is the first to use this platform, which is valid for both plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles. With the former, Denza will implement the latest DM 5.0 hybrid technology, while with the latter it will use BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 Evo.

Recent history of the brand

Originally, Denza was a joint venture held equally by BYD and Daimler AG, now Grupo Mercedes-Benz. However, in 2021 the German manufacturer reduced its stake to 10 percent, partly due to the brand’s weak sales. Since then BYD has owned 90 percent of Denza and has positioned it as its global luxury brand. Among the models in Denza’s range, notable ones include the D9 MPV and the N7 and N8 crossovers.