Denza banks on pedigree to stay ahead of the EV pack in China

Back in 2011 the Chinese joint ventures started launching China only sub brands. Many of these were filled with electric cars. It was largely an effort to placate the government’s realisation that the whole joint venture (JV) model had not catapulted China into being a producer of world-class cars and merely created the largest car market for the big multinationals. With the new sub brands the government wanted to get hold of the latest electric vehicle (EV) technology and transfer this to the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) who largely are the JV partners.

Things, of course, didn’t quite go according to plan. Many of the “launched” brands have yet to sell a single car. FAW-Volkswagen, for example, produced an EV version of the VW Bora under the Kai-li brand but this has never gone on sale. BMW with Brilliance did launch the Zinoro 1E, an electric version of the X1, but it was only available to lease and also used old tech, giving it a not very useful 150km range.

Daimler Benz was the only multinational to actually make something new from the whole experiment. The company teamed up with BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese car and battery producer, to create a new JV. The Denza is the result, and essentially uses the drivetrain of the BYD e6, one of China’s most successful EVs – popular as a taxi – and matches it with the platform of the first generation Mercedes B-Class.

Although the Denza is based on the B-Class it is a much bigger car, with a wheelbase 2 mm longer than that of a fourth-generation E-Class, although the car’s overall length is considerably shorter. It’s distinctive but from the rear is reminiscent of a Renault 16.

Both inside and out, the build quality is good. Materials are definitely a step up from early versions of the e6 but BYD has caught up in recent years and probably is now of a similar overall finish.

Our test car was the low trim Lifestyle model and for the list price of 369,000 yuan (HK$430,564) (prices are reduced by central and local government subsidies by as much 110,000 yuan) the equipment level is poor. Although there is a touch-screen infotainment system, the sat-nav and a reversing camera are reserved for the higher Executive trim. Most of the controls, such as for air conditioning, are operated by the touch-screen in conjunction with fixed side selector buttons. These buttons have a hard resistance to them and are not very tactile; couple this with the low mounting of the screen and it is dangerous to operate while driving.