No ties anymore between Mercedes-Benz and Denza

After reducing its stake in 2021, Mercedes-Benz has now completely exited Denza. This marks the end of a fairly long-standing German-Chinese partnership: in 2011, Daimler and the Chinese car manufacturer BYD founded the joint venture Denza to jointly produce low-cost cars for the Chinese market.

The Mercedes-Benz Group is no longer involved in the Chinese car brand Denza. The Group officially confirmed selling its last 10% stake in Denza in July 2024.

“This means that Mercedes-Benz no longer holds any shares in Denza, and BYD is the sole shareholder. Even the current Denza models do not include any Mercedes-Benz technology,” commented a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson.

Refocusing

The background is that the Mercedes-Benz Group had already decided to focus on the core Mercedes-Benz brand as part of a strategy update in 2021. At that time, Mercedes-Benz had already reduced its share in Denza from 50% to 10%.

This was probably also due to Denza’s weak sales figures: between its launch in 2011 and the end of 2021, the joint venture sold just 23,000 cars.

Instead of low-cost cars for China, BYD has been working on repositioning itself as a global high-end brand since Mercedes almost pulled out at the time. The business is now doing much better under BYD’s leadership: the total number of cars sold has now risen to over 200,000.

Porsche competitor

A new registration application from China for the Denza Z9 sedan shows what today’s Denza cars, already produced without Mercedes-Benz technology, look like. The sedan will be launched on the Chinese market this year as a BEV and PHEV.

After the Z9 GT Shooting Brake, which goes on sale on 20 September, the Z9 is the second model in Denza’s new Z series. And like other Chinese electric cars, it is reminiscent of the Porsche Taycan.

The Denza Z9 measures an impressive 5.22 meters in length, 1.99 meters wide, and 1.50 meters or 1.52 meters high, depending on the trim level. Its wheelbase is 3.13 meters.

The battery-electric Z9 is powered by three electric motors, one with a peak output of 230 kW and two with 240 kW. Its top speed is 240 kph. The Z9 is scheduled to go on sale in China in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will probably also come to Europe.