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A BYD Denza Z9 GT electric car on display in Hong Kong in February 2025.
Ucg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
BEIJING — Chinese electric car giant BYD is pushing ahead into Europe, launching its premium Denza brand in the region despite rising trade tensions.
The first model, the Z9GT, is set to arrive in European showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2025, BYD said Wednesday during Brera Design Week in Milan. The company did not specify prices or a delivery date for the station wagon-type car.
The Z9GT for Europe will come in both battery-only and plug-in hybrid versions, BYD said.
BYD already sells electric cars in Europe. The company initially formed the Denza brand in 2010 with Daimler, now the Mercedes-Benz Group. The sub-brand was revamped in 2021 and sells cars in China, with the German automaker reducing its equity interest to 10%.
The European Union last year announced 17% duties on imports of BYD battery electric vehicles over claims of “unfair” production subsidies. Last month, Chinese and EU officials discussed issues related to the electric car supply chain during a meeting in Beijing.
The second Denza model for Europe will be a seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle called the D9, BYD said, without specifying a delivery date.
“We’re thrilled to be introducing Denza to European customers, starting here in Milan and accelerating as 2025 progresses,” Stella Li, executive vice president at BYD, said in a statement.
Surging overseas sales
BYD has ramped up its overseas sales since late 2022. In the first quarter of this year, the company said it sold more than 206,000 cars outside China, more than double that of the year-ago period and already reaching roughly half of the number of cars it sold overseas last year.
The automaker’s first-quarter revenue grew by at least 86% from a year ago to 8.5 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), according to a filing on Tuesday.
BYD noted “substantial growth” in its international sales as it achieved record new energy vehicle sales in the first quarter, with 986,098 passenger cars sold. The Chinese automaker no longer makes traditional fuel-powered passenger cars.
Most of BYD’s cars target a lower price segment than that of Tesla, and the Chinese company overtook Elon Musk’s automaker in total sales last year.
BYD also sold more battery-only passenger cars in the first quarter, with sales of 416,388 units — more than Tesla’s 172,754 vehicles sold in China during that time, according to delivery numbers published by the China Passenger Car Association.
