Denza D9 review: The luxury world’s silent killer
From a silent MPV with business class seats to a monster SUV that floats like a boat, BYD is flooding the world with luxury cars. Can it drown the established players?
Webservice User &
Leow Ju-Len
ASK anyone to list some luxury car brands and you’ll probably get a mixture of German and British nameplates, with Japan’s Lexus possibly getting a look in. But the Chinese want their names there, and they want them there in a hurry – almost as much of a hurry as the local queue-jumpers who elbowed me out of their way at the railway station in Changsha, where the Denza D9 is built.
Hot on the heels of Zhejiang Geely’s Lotus and Zeekr, and independent startup XPeng, Denza is the next Chinese brand to join the fight to tempt well-heeled drivers in Singapore from the likes of BMW.
The nameplate will launch a pure electric version of the D9, a plush multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) with seven seats, at Ion Orchard on Oct 10. The goal is to price it at or under S$300,000, including a Certificate of Entitlement.
Denza is a 14-year-old joint venture between Warren Buffet-backed BYD and Mercedes-Benz. Both parties started as equal shareholders, but the Chinese have since raised their stake to 90 per cent.
Counting cars sold by authorised distributors, BYD leads the sales charts in Singapore with 2,587 registrations as at the end of July, according to figures from the Land Transport Authority. That impetus has given BYD the conviction to give its more upscale Denza label a go not only in Singapore, but also in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Europe, where BYD’s sales are gaining momentum.
“As you may know, BYD is currently No 1 among all brands in Singapore. It’s not only our products or our technology that have made people so receptive to BYD, but their suitability for Singapore, and that applies to our premium brand, as well,” Liu Xueliang, the general manager of BYD Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division, told The Business Times through a translator.
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Liu spoke with BT at BYD’s Changsha plant on Aug 21, hours before the brand held a ceremony to mark the rollout of the first D9s destined for export. “Our job today is to introduce more products and meet more needs, and now is the right time to do so,” he said.
Like Toyota’s Alphard, the D9 is Asia’s equivalent of New York City’s ubiquitous black town cars. Seven seats give it the ability to double as a family bus, but the D9 is best enjoyed when hired hands do the driving.
For half the price of a German limousine such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, it has much more room inside than one, thanks to its boxy shape. The middle row seats are Business Class affairs, with individual touchscreens for controlling everything from the air-conditioning and entertainment systems, to adjusting the seatback and foot rest to your preferred angle of recumbency.
Then there’s the D9’s sheer presence. At more than 5.2 metres long and 1.92 metres tall, it wears its bulk proudly, while its massive chrome face is purely a statement piece, mimicking a front grille that, as an EV, it doesn’t really need.
Soft Nappa leather upholstery, real wood veneer and a textured suede roof liner give the D9’s cabin a traditional sense of luxury, along with features such as a huge glass roof and optional 14-speaker sound system from Dynaudio, a Danish audiophile speaker maker.
I drove it for just two minutes in a factory carpark, but came away impressed by the experience. Like many EVs, the D9 has seamless and strong acceleration, yet it’s preternaturally quiet even for a battery-powered car. Denza claims that at 120 kmh, the sound level inside is 64.4 decibels, meaning the D9 is as hushed at that speed as many cars are at idle.
For all that, the D9 is merely the tip of a looming luxury car iceberg from BYD. Denza also sells the N7, a mid-size Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) aimed at Tesla’s Model Y, and the N8, a three-row SUV. In Europe it is launching the Z9 GT, a megawatt wagon with three electric motors, 965 horsepower and the ability to hit 100 kmh in a Porsche-challenging 3.4 seconds.
A younger brand, Fangchengbao, is building a name for itself with China’s outdoorsy crowd with its rugged 4x4s (think Jeeps, but with plug-in hybrid tech and more power).
But Yangwang, BYD’s flagship label, is a luxury brand literally making waves – its U8 SUV is a 3.5-tonne, 1,196 horsepower monster that can sail through flood or river water like a boat for 30 minutes. Back on terra firma, it can also rotate on the spot like a tank.
Yangwang also builds the U9 sports car, currently the third-fastest EV in the world thanks to its top speed of 375 kmh, which is the sort of performance that some Ferraris would struggle to match.
Between them, Denza, Fangchengbao and Yangwang are planning to launch 10 new models in the next year or so. Some of the upcoming cars will run on BYD’s second-generation “blade” battery (named after its space-efficient shape), which offers faster charging times, more durability and enough energy density to enable them to cover 1,000 km on a single charge.
Asked why BYD needs three luxury brands, Liu said each one’s positioning and layout are different. “Fangchengbao is for the off-road enthusiasts and Yangwang is really an ultra-premium brand, and that focuses on a different group of customers,” he said. “Denza is more for family-oriented customers and business users.”
Regardless of whether there are enough such users willing to give the D9 a try here, it would take more than one hit product to launch Denza into the same orbit as established luxury marques, simply because it is easier to build a premium car than a premium brand. But given its aggressive rollout of new products high on tech, performance and features, BYD seems likely to get there well before Changsha’s train riders learn how to queue politely.
Denza D9 Motor power/torque 313 hp / 360 Nm Battery type / net capacity Lithium iron phosphate / 103 kWh Charging Type/Time 30 minutes from 30 to 80 per cent (at 166 kW DC) Range 620 km (CLTC) 0-100 kmh 9.5 seconds (estimated) Top speed 180 kmh Efficiency 17.9 kWh/100 km (estimated) Agent Vantage Automotive Price To be announced Available October 2024
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