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The Denza N8 is made by Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automotive, which is 90 per cent owned by BYD. Photo: Weibo
BusinessChina Business

Chinese EV maker BYD challenges rival Li Auto with launch of second premium SUV in a month via Mercedes-Benz venture

  • The plug-in-hybrid N8 SUV challenges Li Auto’s bestselling L8 model in a red-hot market
  • Along with the N7, launched just over a month ago, the new offering is part of the carmaker’s concerted effort to move up the value chain
Electric & new energy vehicles
Daniel Ren
Daniel Renin Shanghai
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Warren Buffett-backed BYD launched a new premium sport-utility vehicle (SUV) via its venture with Mercedes-Benz, as the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles (EVs) tries to climb up the value chain and take on Li Auto’s bestselling L8.
Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automotive, which is 90 per cent owned by BYD, began taking orders for its plug-in-hybrid N8 model on Sunday, just one month after its previous model, the pure-electric N7, hit the mainland China market.

“Launching two production models in one month represents BYD’s stepped-up efforts to compete in the premium EV segment,” said Eric Han, a senior ­manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “The N8 is obviously targeting wealthy families and will fight against Li Auto’s L8 in the Chinese market.”

The N8 ranges in price from 319,800 yuan (US$44,496) to 326,800 yuan.

Li Auto started taking orders for its L8 on September 30, 2022. Photo: Handout
Li Auto sold 9,618 of its L8 SUVs in June, up 26.5 per cent from a month earlier, according to the China Passenger Car Association. The car starts at 339,800 yuan.
Tesla prices the basic edition of its Shanghai-made Model Y, which is smaller in size than the N8 and L8, at 261,900 yuan.

Denza did not reveal when it would start delivering the N8, but it took the company just three weeks to begin delivering the mid-size N7 to customers after it began taking orders on July 3.

BYD has historically been better known for cheaper electric-car models that are priced below 200,000 yuan, about 30 per cent below premium models from Tesla and Chinese competitors such as Nio and Xpeng.
The carmaker, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, dethroned Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker last year buoyed by Chinese drivers’ rising penchant for battery-powered vehicles.
Controlled by Chinese billionaire Wang Chuanfu, BYD also hopes to display its design and manufacturing heft to the global automotive industry by launching luxury EVs under the Yangwang series.

In late June, BYD said it would begin delivering its Yangwang U8, a luxury car priced at 1.1 million yuan, in September.

The U8’s appearance evokes comparisons with Range Rover. It can accelerate to 100 kilometres per hour from a standstill in 3.6 seconds, and its four wheel-side motors can rotate the vehicle in a so-called tank turn and even allow it to crab-walk sideways.
Both BYD and Li Auto smashed their monthly sales records in July as a release of pent-up demand in the world’s largest EV market continues.

BYD delivered 262,161 units in July, up 3.6 per cent from a month earlier. It broke its monthly sales record for a third straight month.

Li Auto handed 34,134 vehicles to mainland customers in July, beating its previous record of 32,575 units set a month earlier. It is also riding a three-month streak of records.

EV sales in mainland China will rise by 35 per cent this year to 8.8 million units, UBS analyst Paul Gong forecast in April.

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