- Denza was formed in 2011 and sold just 23,000 vehicles in its first 10 years.
- Thanks to several compelling new models, sales have soared over the past three years.
- The marque off-loaded a 40% share of its Denza stake to BYD in 2022.
Mercedes-Benz has completely withdrawn from its Denza joint venture in China with BYD, leaving the latter as the sole shareholder of the premium EV brand.
The German car manufacturer joined forces with BYD to launch Denza in 2011 as a 50-50 joint venture. The firm released a handful of battery-electric vehicles during its early years, including the Denza 300, Denza 400, and Denza 500. In its first decade, the Denza brand is believed to have only sold 23,000 vehicles.
Read: Mercedes And BYD’s Denza Z9 GT Is A Mega-Watt Monster
That simply wasn’t enough to make the partnership worthwhile for Mercedes. In 2022, it slashed its stake in Denza to just 10%, with BYD purchasing that extra 40%. In the past two years, Denza has thrived, launching several new models with innovative technologies and striking designs, leading to a dramatic increase in sales. It has now sold over 200,000 cars, but not even that appears to have been enough to convince Mercedes to stick around.
While BYD now owns 100% of Denza, customers likely won’t notice any difference. No current Denza model features Mercedes-Benz technology, and the Chinese brand has ambitious plans for the future. In addition to growing sales across China, Denza will venture into new markets over the coming year, including Europe and, potentially, Australia. It’s looking to establish a range with no less than 10 models.
Information from China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System confirmed that Mercedes-Benz officially dropped out of the joint venture on September 14. Hans Georg Engel, an executive from Mercedes, also withdrew from Denza’s list of directors.
“This means that Mercedes-Benz no longer holds any shares in Denza and BYD is the sole shareholder,” a company spokesperson confirmed to Electrive. “Even the current Denza models do not include any Mercedes-Benz technology.”
