Premium Chinese auto brand Denza is launching in Australia with a pair of large off-road SUVs, but its lineup is set to quickly expand.
“We’re looking to bring in two, maybe three, additional cars in 2026, and my goal is to bring those cars into different segments, but the focus still being B5 and the B8 – that’s the volume,” Denza Australia chief operating officer Mark Harland told CarExpert.
The Z9 and Z9 GT, a Porsche Taycan-rivalling sedan and wagon, are already available in right-hand drive.
“Both the D9 and Z9 have dual powertrains, meaning you can get them as plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles, so those cars are both on my list, but I haven’t confirmed either one of them,” explained Mr Harland.
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“So we can say we want both powertrains. We can say just one powertrain. Or we can say, hey, we don’t think there’s enough volume, so let’s just stick with what we have with the B5 and B8 – having that flexibility from the parent company just makes my job a really exciting job.”
The Z9 and Z9 GT in electric guise has three electric motors and a 100.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, achieving 630km of range on the lenient CLTC cycle. The front electric motor pumps out 230kW of power and 430Nm of torque, while the rear motors each pump out 240kW and 360Nm.
The plug-in hybrid version mates three less powerful electric motors (outputs of 200kW/315Nm for the front and 220kW/360Nm for the rear ones) to a 152kW/325Nm turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.
Its claimed 0-100km/h time is just 0.2 seconds slower at 3.6s, while it still offers 201km of electric driving range thanks to a large (for a PHEV) 38.5kWh battery.
Denza could even offer a sports car in local showrooms.
“I love sports cars, so I am actively asking headquarters for a sports car, be it a Denza Z or a [Yangwang] U9 so, again, [I’m] cognizant of the fact that when those cars… the volumes would be really small and the price points would be very high,” said Mr Harland.
“A U9 right now would be close to $250,000. And obviously, I think we need to, like I said, first establish ourselves as a brand, as a real player in the market, take care of our customers, open some additional stores, and then, absolutely, I think I’d love to have a sports car here. But [I’ve] got to get a few other things going in the right direction first.”
The Denza Z was revealed in concept guise earlier this year, though details remain scarce on the electric sports car.
It’s expected to incorporate a tri-motor setup like the Z9, and Denza has confirmed it’ll feature the DiSus-M “industry-first intelligent magnetorheological body control system exclusively for new energy vehicles”.
The Yangwang U9 is already offered in China, and has set the record for the world’s fastest production electric vehicle. In Track Edition guise, it offers a dizzying 2220kW of power from a quad-motor setup.
Long before a sports car appears in local showrooms, something rather more conservative – a people mover – could come instead.
Technically, the aforementioned D9 large people mover has already received vehicle type approval (VTA) for our market in electric guise; it’s also offered in China with plug-in hybrid power.
“We could have launched with the D9, which is the people mover that they’re using in Indonesia, Malaysia and other markets. But we wanted to go for the big segment,” explained Mr Harland.
“We’re still looking at if and when we bring that in, because it’s not a huge segment, especially at the luxury end.”
Despite the Kia Carnival accounting for almost three quarters of all people mover sales in Australia, a raft of Chinese brands are launching products in this segment. Even if Denza doesn’t bring the D9, there’ll still be options from Zeekr, Xpeng, LDV, GAC and likely GWM.
“We want to establish the network, establish our presence with the B5 and B8 before we look at the D9 and the reason we did the VTA on the D9 is because it’s a car that’s available to us in as a right-hand drive car, and it’s doing well in Malaysia and Indonesia and other right-hand drive markets,” explained Mr Harland.
The B5 and B8 being released in Australia aren’t actually sold as Denzas in China, but rather as Fangchengbao models. Denza will be used as the export brand for vehicles from this marque, and likely for vehicles from the Yangwang luxury brand too.
Denza has its own SUVs in China, and its flagship N9 could come here as a more road-going alternative to the B5 and B8.
“If let’s say the B5 and B8 go well, and we’re attracting more and more luxury buyers from the top-end of the market, I think the N9 could be a good car for the Australian market, wearing a Denza badge,” said Mr Harland.
“It’s one of the cars that I’m looking at, nothing confirmed.
“To be very blunt, things open up to me when we start to achieve our targets for B5 and B8. So if we feel like those cars are getting good acceptance in the marketplace, our dealers are taking care of our customers, we’ve got aftersales set up, then more opportunities open up to us.”
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