Denza, BYD’s JV with Mercedes-Benz, launches second EV as Chinese marque’s premium segment foray gathers pace
- The N7, Denza’s second production model, will start at 301,800 yuan (US$41,649)
- Denza, along with the Yangwang series, carries BYD’s hopes of attracting high-net-worth clients to its cars, analyst says
Denza said on Monday that the N7, the second production model assembled by its namesake marque, will start at 301,800 yuan (US$41,649). Deliveries of the EV, which features a self-parking system and Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors, will begin this month, the company said.
The basic edition can go as far as 702 kilometres on a single charge, Denza said.
“BYD has set itself lofty goals, as it hopes to hone its image as a premium EV maker,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Denza, along with its Yangwang series, carries BYD’s hopes of attracting high-net-worth clients to its cars.”
BYD is known for assembling cheaper EV models that are priced below 200,000 yuan – about 30 per cent cheaper than premium models from Tesla and Chinese competitors such as Nio and Xpeng.
The launch of the N7 represents BYD’s ambitions of building premium EVs and expanding its product line and customer base. The new EV is, for example, targeting BMW’s X3 and Audi’s Q5, both of which are premium petrol-powered vehicles that cost 396,900 yuan and 420,500 yuan, respectively.
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Zhao Changjiang, Denza’s general manager of sales, said the N7 had secured more than 24,000 pre-orders, with 65 per cent of customers ordering the EVs as replacements for their current vehicles.
Denza was established as a 50-50 venture in 2011 by BYD and Daimler, which was renamed Mercedes-Benz Group in February last year. BYD bought a 40 per cent stake in Denza from Mercedes in January 2022, increasing its holding to 90 per cent.
The D9, Denza’s first production model, is a multipurpose vehicle that hit the market in August last year. Denza delivered 11,005 D9s in May, surpassing the psychologically important 10,000 threshold for a third consecutive month.
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BYD, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, dethroned Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker in 2022 following a surge in sales in mainland China.
It is among dozens of Chinese EV companies that are putting pressure on conventional carmakers such as BMW and Audi, with more Chinese motorists replacing their petrol cars with battery-powered EVs.
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Meanwhile, Tesla said over the weekend that it would offer discounts of up to 45,000 yuan on its Model S and Model X cars in mainland China, in its latest efforts to spur sales in the world’s largest EV market.
While the Model S starts at 773,900 yuan, the basic edition of the Model X is priced at 863,900 yuan. Both cars are assembled in the US.
