BYD bought the remaining 10% stake in Denza from Mercedes-Benz, after increasing its stake from 50% to 90% in 2022.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) has taken full control of new premium car brand Denza, after increasing its stake in the joint venture with Mercedes-Benz to 90 percent in 2022.
Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., the operating entity of Denza, saw a change in shareholder information on September 14, with Mercedes-Benz withdrawing and BYD becoming the sole shareholder, according to China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.
A Mercedes executive, Hans-Georg Engel, has withdrawn from Denza’s director list, according to the database.
This means that BYD has bought the remaining 10% of Denza from Mercedes, after increasing its stake from 50% to 90% in 2022.
Denza was established in February 2011 as a 50-50 joint venture between BYD and Daimler, and is the first Sino-foreign joint venture in China focusing on new electric vehicles. In February 2022, Daimler was rebranded as Mercedes-Benz.
Denza initially launched the Denza 300, Denza 400 and Denza 300, three battery electric vehicle models, and the Denza X hybrid SUV. Sales of these early Denza models, which are now discontinued, were poor and the brand was not widely known.
On January 24, 2022, BYD announced in an announcement that it had signed a transfer agreement with Daimler for Denza, which would increase BYD’s stake in the company to 90% and reduce Daimler’s stake to 10%. The deal closed in mid-2022.
BYD relaunched the Denza brand in mid-2022 and unveiled the D9 MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) on May 16, 2022, as the first model of the refreshed brand.
The Denza D9 was officially launched on August 23, 2022, and deliveries began on October 25 of the same year.
Denza then launched two more sports cars, the N7 and N8, but their contribution to the brand’s sales was limited.
From January to August this year, Denza sold 79,894 units, with the D9 contributing 71,342 units, or 89 percent, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Since March 2023, the monthly sales of Denza D9 have reached about 10,000 units.
Denza will officially launch the Denza Z9GT tri-motor model on September 20, and the pre-sale price of the model will be 339,800 yuan (47,900 US dollars).
(1 USD = 7.0937 Chinese Yuan)
Regulatory file: BYD Denza applies for Z9 sedan
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