Shenzhen BYD New Energy Co., Ltd., trading as Denza, is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

manufacturing company headquartered in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

, China, specialising in luxury

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

s and an equally owned

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between BYD and the

Mercedes-Benz Group The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

. Founded in May 2010, in late 2014 the company produced a single model with an

all-electric range All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of an all-electric vehicle, it means the maximum range per recharge. For a ...

of up to . The car was initially put on sale in selected Chinese cities only. In December 2021 it was announced the Daimler will reduce its share to 10% and BYD will hold 90%.

Name

An invented name from the Chinese ''Tengshi'' (), Denza roughly translates to "rising power and momentum". Alternative translations include "wind power" or "winding circumstances".

History

On 1 March 2010, BYD Auto and Daimler AG signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint development of electric vehicles. That initial link-up led to the creation of a new, equal-ownership legal entity, Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd., which was formally established on 27 May 2010 and received a business license from the Chinese state in March 2011. Its brand name, Denza, debuted in March 2012, and a

new energy vehicle A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity (such as a wall socket that connects to the power grid) to store electrical power within its onboard rechargeable battery packs, which then ...

(NEV)

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

was first shown in April 2012 at the

Auto China Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Beijing Motor Show or Auto China () is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990. China is currently the largest auto market in the world. 2020 The 2020 Auto China show was due to open o ...

motor show in Beijing. It was expected that this product would be offered as a luxury car. While its initial product was set to be launched in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, and Shenzhen in September 2014, in June of that year the launch date was pushed back to late 2014, and the car debuted in December of that year.

Operations

In 2013, Denza was constructing its assembly plant in Pingshan, Shenzhen, which was set to have an annual capacity of 40,000 vehicles.

Government subsidies

Successful sales may depend on subsidies provided by the Chinese government. The chairman of the Chinese co-owner of Denza expressed his hope that these would be in place by mid-2013, and many of the press releases posted on the Denza website concern subsidies. Prior electric car grants were in effect for only two years starting in 2010, but in September 2013 a scheme providing cash payments to buyers of all-electric and hybrid vehicles was established. When it was launched in December 2014, purchasers of the car qualified for a RMB 78,000 subsidy and while the total subsidy on offer depends on location of purchase, no more than RMB 120,000 can be deducted. Subsidies also increase demand for the car in other ways, too, and as of 2014 purchasers were exempted from Beijing's license plate lottery and qualified for free plates in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Models and products

Current

Denza D9 The Denza D9 is an all-electric and plug-in hybrid minivan produced by Denza, which launched on the Chinese car market in May 2022. The D9 is the first of three new models for 2022. The Denza series will launch five more following products in th ...

Discontinued

* Denza EV/500 (2014–2019) *

Denza X The Denza X is a crossover SUV launched in Guangzhou Auto Show 2019 by Denza, a joint venture between Chinese automaker BYD Auto and German luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz. Overview The Denza X was originally introduced at the Guangzhou Auto Sho ...

(2019–2021)

Concept cars

* Denza EV Concept (2012) * Denza Inception (2022) File:Denza 500 facelift 003.jpg, Denza 500 File:Denza X PHEV 001.jpg, Denza X File:Denza D9 2022MY Songjiang, Shanghai IMG001.jpg, Denza D9

Dealerships

As of December 2014, Denza boasted three dealerships: one each in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. The company aims to put the car on sale in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Tianjin soon.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in the People's Republic of China Car manufacturers of China Electric vehicle manufacturers of China Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2010 Chinese companies established in 2010 Manufacturing companies based in Shenzhen Chinese brands Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers BYD Auto Mercedes-Benz Group joint ventures Chinese-foreign joint-venture companies