Denza to enter Malaysian market after CNY, bookings now accepted

The past two years have seen more new brands entering the Malaysian market than at any other time since the 1960s. At least 15 new brands have appeared – all from China – with over 30 models, both with combustion engines and electric powertrains, with some also being hybrid electric.

2025 will see some more entering since the government has been more relaxed about newcomers, especially those which want to sell EVs. These newcomers have been able to start up their businesses far faster than companies in earlier years.

After the Chinese New Year break, one of the first new brands of 2025 will be launched. It will be Denza, which is no secret as the MD of BYD Malaysia, Eagle Zhao, mentioned that it will be launched in early 2025 during the launch of the BYD M6.

Originally a joint-venture brand
It is a brand in the BYD portfolio which was originally started as a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz in 2010. In September 2024, Mercedes-Benz left the partnership so the Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd, as the company is known, has become fully owned by BYD. To date, Denza has produced over 200,000 vehicles for various segments in China, and entered Southeast Asia at the 2023 Bangkok International Motor Show.

BYD Malaysia to handle distribution
For the Malaysian market, BYD will have a slightly different arrangement for the Denza brand where Sime Motors will not be the distributor, unlike for the BYD brand. BYD Malaysia will manage the distribution itself but due to the requirement for APs to bring in vehicles, Sime Darby Auto Imports (an AP-holder) will be the official importer.

BYD Malaysia will appoint its own dealers and from what we have seen of early publicity of Denza, there will be at least 7 outlets handling the brand when it is launched, with one each in Melaka, Penang and Johor. Not surprisingly, Sime Motors is also among the dealers and has set up a separate retail unit called Denza Sime Motors which is already advertising the D9 MPV and accepting bookings. Incidentally, Sime Motors also represents Denza and BYD in Singapore.

Denza D9
The new brand will start off with just one model – the Denza D9, a MPV that is slightly larger than the popular Toyota Alphard. The model has been in the Chinese market since August 2022. It has the typical monobox form of MPVs and sits on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 (BEV) or DM-i platform (PHEV). All-wheel drive and front-wheel drive are available and it is known that both drivetrains will be offered at launch. It is likely that only the EV will be offered as it can be imported tax-free whereas there are no similar incentives for PHEVs.

The D9 with a PHEV drivetrain is said to have a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine and an electric motor powered by a 20.39 or 40.06 kWh lithium-ion battery. The driving range can be up to 1,040 kms, with up to 190 kms possible on just electric power.

For the fully electric drivetrain, the claimed range is 520 kms for the FWD version and 480 kms for the AWD version with power supplied by a 103.36 Blade LFP battery made by BYD.

Pricing is not known yet and while there is no point looking at Singapore prices which are ridiculously high due to their CoE, the Thai prices might give a clue to the price levels in Malaysia. The D9 in Thailand starts at 2 million Thai baht and goes up to 2.7 million baht which, converted at today’s rates, would be about RM262,000 to RM360,000.

Winners of the 20th Malaysia Car of the Year Awards