How much will Australians pay for a Chinese luxury car? BYD's premium brand is coming soon with its sights set on the Genesis GV70 or Lexus GX rival

As BYD prepares to roll out its Denza luxury brand, will Australian buyers be open to paying a premium for a high-end Chinese car?

As reported, BYD will launch Denza in Australia before the end of 2025. The brand is to BYD what Lexus is to Toyota and what Genesis is to Hyundai.

Speaking with CarsGuide in China recently, BYD Australia Senior Manager Product Planning and Pricing Sajid Hasan said Australians were “absolutely” open to a Chinese luxury car marque.

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“I mean, Australia is a very multicultural society, and there's ample evidence of luxury products that are produced in China that are well received,” he said.

“Denza, the luxury brand, shouldn't be just seen as a Chinese brand, it should be seen as a global brand. And we're not just selling Denza in China, we're selling it all over the world. It's launched in Europe, and it’s launched in Asia, Pacific countries.”

Hasan confirmed that when Denza launches in Australia, it won't share showroom space with BYD, which is a more mainstream brand.

“We'd be going for, you know, a different, elevated experience, as you would expect from a luxury brand. So that certainly warrants its own premises and sites.”

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2026 DENZA Z9 GT It’s official! BYD’s premium brand, Denza, is coming to Australia in 2025. While the first Denza model is expected to be a Toyota Prado rival, this sleek 2026 Denza Z9 GT is also under consideration. Available with a plug-in hybrid or hybrid powertrain, the Z9 GT shooting brake can crab walk into a car space and it has rear-wheel steering! #BYD #Denza # Z9GT #wagon #EV #car #carsguide #fyp
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Hasan wouldn’t be drawn on sales targets for Denza in Australia, but said the retail network would not be as big as BYD’s which will be close to 100 sites by the end of this year.

“So basically, the volume aspirations, as you know, as would be expected of a mainstream brand versus the luxury brand, very different.”

In terms of pricing and market position, Hasan said it would depend on the specific Denza model as some will be drawn from the Denza portfolio in China, while other models will come from BYD’s premium off-road brand, Fangchengbao.

Fangchengbao 5

“At the end of the day, our price position will focus on what is a competitive price for our target customer. We'll consider the other competitor brands, but we'll focus on our own values, which is setting a price that is suitable for our customer in terms of what they would expect to pay and obtain for like the whole value equation.

“They're (the customer) going for something that is more premium in spec, it’s going to have higher performance. It's a premium and a luxury brand, and it will also be consistent with our volume aspirations.”

Pricing is a while off being confirmed, but a Denza D9 starts from around $A131,000 in Hong Kong. A Fangchengbao 5 (Denza B5) starts from the equivalent of just over A$50,000 and goes up from there. Of course, the Australian pricing won’t correlate exactly with Chinese prices.

Denza D9

Lexus and Genesis are obvious rivals, but other brands in Denza crosshairs could include fellow Chinese carmaker Zeekr, as well as Volvo, Polestar, and European marques including Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

BYD Australia is yet to confirm it, but the first Denza model to land is expected to be the the Fangchengbao 5 - rebadged as a Denza B5 - before other models like the D9 people mover, N9 SUV and Z9 GT shooting brake are added to the line-up.

Denza just showed off a right-hand drive version of the D9 at the recent Hong Kong motor show.

Denza Z9 GT

Hasan said there was no internal consideration to using the Fangchengbao brand in Australia, as the decision was made at the top of the company in China.

“So we're fortunate that Denza HQ have thought about how they roll those brands, those model names, out to the rest of the world, and so they've taken a global approach there and set the direction.

“So I guess for the export markets, there'll be consistency. So we didn't really have to think too much about using ‘Formula Leopard’ (Fangchengbao) as a name. It was just, ‘this is Denza’.”