The Denza N7 will hit the market later this month, with deliveries set to begin in July, targeting a market in the RMB 400,000 range.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
BYD's (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) premium new energy vehicle (NEV) brand Denza is gearing up for the launch of its first SUV, the Denza N7, and the model seems to be gaining good acceptance.
Pre-orders for the Denza N7 have already exceeded 20,000 units before specifications and pricing are announced, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of Denza's sales division, said at an event yesterday.
Fifty-five percent of these pre-order holders are vehicle owners of luxury brands including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, and 35 percent are existing owners of BYD and Denza, Zhao said, according to a report by local auto media Yiche yesterday.
On March 26, Zhao said there were many customers who want to get the Denza N7 launched as soon as possible, and the model is expected to get 30,000 orders before its mid-year launch based on inquiry volume data.
On the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, Denza opened reservations for the N7, but its pricing information was not released.
Denza is a joint venture between BYD and Daimler established in February 2011, with each holding a 50 percent stake at the time, and the Daimler brand was rebranded as Mercedes-Benz in February 2022. BYD's stake in Denza increased to 90 percent last year, and Mercedes-Benz's stake decreased to 10 percent.
In August 2022, Denza let the D9 MPV go on sale, the brand's first model after the reorganization. The Denza N7 is the second model after Denza's shareholding reform and its first SUV.
On April 25, Denza said the N7 received 10,569 pre-orders, just seven days before reservations opened.
On May 30, Zhao said at Denza's first brand day event that the Denza N7 would go on sale in late June, with deliveries starting in July.
Earlier today, Zhao said on Weibo that he would be attending the rollout ceremony of the first Denza N7 production car later today.
(Image credit: Denza)
No pricing information has been released for the Denza N7, but Zhao said on Weibo last December 20 that the SUV aims to capture the market for traditional internal combustion engine cars priced around 400,000 yuan ($55,850).
The Denza N7 is a 5-seat midsize SUV with a length, width and height of 4,860 mm, 1,935 mm and 1,602 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,940 mm, a previous regulatory filing showed.
Denza's only model currently in delivery, the Denza D9, began deliveries at the end of October last year and sold 11,005 units in May this year, the third consecutive month with more than 10,000 units.
The average sales price of the Denza D9 exceeds RMB 420,000, Denza said on June 2. The MPV is now available in hybrid and all-electric versions, with a starting price range of RMB 335,800 to RMB 465,800.
($1 = RMB 7.1621)
