BYD’s growth in the UK and across Europe has been phenomenal. In just over two years the Chinese brand has launched six new cars with a seventh on the way, and when its plug-in hybrid DM-i models are taken into account, that number’s likely to double by the end of 2026.
The company has some swagger, even planning to take on Tesla with its own network of Flash Chargers capable of 1MW charging speeds, making ‘filling up’ as fast as in a petrol car.
Now BYD has set its sights even higher, taking on the sports car elite like Porsche and Lotus with its Denza brand.
The first Denza model to arrive will be the Denza Z9 GT next year. Before the launch I got a chance to crawl all over the car when it was on show at the German Car of the Year awards. There was also a large, rugged 4x4 model that could also be rebranded as a Denza on display.
The Z9 GT clearly has the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo and Lotus Emeya in its sights, packing quite a punch from its 100kWh battery and three electric motors – one on the front axle, two on the back – combining to make 952bhp. It promises a 0-62mph time of around 3.4 seconds.
We don’t have too much information on the batteries other than that they’ll use BYD’s Blade Battery tech and the company’s cell-to-body structure. Denza is likely to debut the super-fast Flash Charging technology too. BYD Special Advisor Alfredo Altavilla told us that Denza – and eventually the luxury YangWang brand – would become the technology showcase for the BYD group.
It’s not just the all-electric Porsche Taycan that the Z9 GT will be targeting. Like the rest of BYD’s range, this Denza will be available as a plug-in hybrid, so Porsche’s Panamera is also in the Z9 GT’s sights. In DM-i form the Denza gets a 38.5kWh battery plus a four-cylinder 2.0 litre turbocharged engine – combined, the electric and petrol systems produce 858bhp with a not-too-shabby 0-62mph time of 3.6 seconds.
European specifications haven’t been set yet, nor have prices, but my first hands-on experience of the Z9 GT suggests that the style, space and quality is up to the mark.
Settle into the driver’s seat and let the self-closing door edge itself shut and you’re in a cabin that feels as premium as anything else on the market. The leather is high quality, as are the chrome and wood materials across the dash and centre console, while there’s a very minimalist feel to the inside with screens – as expected – dominating the view.
There was a grand total of five screens in front of me when I settled into the Z9 GT. Rather than traditional door mirrors, there were cameras mounted on slim stalks on the front of the doors which fed two screens on the front of the door panels.
Then there’s a 13in digital display in front of the driver (plus a head-up display, too), a huge 17in central touchscreen and another 13in touchscreen in front of the passenger for good measure.
The only buttons you’ll find are on the steering wheel. Everything else is controlled via voice control or the central touchscreen panel.
There’s a fancy crystal gear selector by a couple of cup holders on the centre console, which has a large refrigerated storage box behind and more storage underneath. As is usual these days, there are a couple of cooled, wireless fast chargers for your mobile phone, too.
The seats felt supportive and comfortable, with heating, ventilation and a massage function, while the 20-speaker audio system is provided by French maker Devialet.
In the back the quality is just as impressive, but there’s more space than you’ll find than in a Porsche. Headroom and legroom are both generous, making the Z9 GT a decent (and quick) chauffeur car.
There are two glass roofs, intersected by a strengthening bar across the centre, which has been used to house a couple of vanity mirrors for rear passengers. They get a fridge between the two rear seats behind the fold-down armrest.
The only issue is the fridge means the boot is slightly compromised. You can fold down both back seats, but the fridge stays in position in the middle. Otherwise, the boot is an okay size.
You can decide on the looks, but from the side on the proportions are very much like a Taycan Sport Turismo with the extended roof line and swollen rear wheel arches. The drop nose front looks good to me, with slim headlights underlined by LED daytime running lights.
Perhaps most impressive of all was the quality of the exterior finish, with a lovely even sheen to the paintwork, which is split along the sides by a piano black feature line that flows all the way around the car.
We’ll have to wait for pricing for a while, but if Denza prices the car sensibly – which in my book has to be below Porsche – it could well persuade some buyers to take a different route to a premium performance car. That would mean undercutting the £89,000 starting price of the Taycan Sport Turismo and the £99,000 price of the cheapest plug-in hybrid Panamera.
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