You’ve probably never heard of the Denza brand, but that may change soon. Denza is a premium outfit under Chinese auto giant BYD, a company that sold more electric vehicles globally than Tesla last year. Originally a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, Denza is now majority-owned by BYD, with a growing focus on luxury and performance cars. Their latest creation is the Denza Z, showcased at the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show. Designed by former Audi design boss Wolfgang Egger and presented as a concept, this low-slung all-electric sports car looks production-ready.
Set to take on the likes of the 911, the Denza Z, just like the Porsche, is a 4-seater with carbon bucket seats and four-point harnesses, conveying its sporting intentions. However, unlike its European contemporary, the overall form and profile evoke classic proportions of a mid-engine sports car, owing to its cab-forward stance. The functional fins on the front fenders, combined with the wide rear wing, scream high-speed stability.
Speaking of speed, while Denza hasn’t officially revealed any performance figures, expectations are high. The four-door Denza Z9 GT, which has already made its European debut, puts out 952 horsepower from its tri-motor setup. So there’s little doubt the Z’s numbers should hover near that mark, placing it in the same league as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and the Tesla Model S Plaid. However, power is only half the story as Denza is betting big on tech for its performance flagship.
The Z skips the mechanical steering rack for a steer-by-wire system, something that we’ve seen on the Tesla Cybertruck. This means there’s no physical link between the steering and the front wheels. The benefits of such a system extend well beyond a sharper response. The lack of a steering rack helps improve safety in case of a collision, and the flat-bottom units seen in the Denza Z concept can retract into the dashboard, freeing up more space for the driver, which is ideal for charging stops. It also enables variable steering ratios, tuned on the fly by the vehicle’s AI.
The DiSus-M magnetorheological suspension system manages the ride by reacting to road conditions in milliseconds, providing both comfort and razor-sharp dynamics. This tech has been used by high-end brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini in their vehicles.
Currently, there are only a handful of all-electric sports coupes in the West; think Rimac Nevera, Lotus Evija, and Pininfarina Battista, which are all at the higher end of the price spectrum, and the Tesla Roadster is nowhere to be found. Chinese automakers possess the ability to undercut the competition and disrupt markets, making such performance accessible to a much larger audience. All-electric models like the 1000 hp+ Nio EP9 and Yangwang U9 are perfect examples. You do have the £59,995 (~$80k) 500 horsepower MG Cyberster, but MG is also Chinese-owned.
So, to sum it up, if priced aggressively, models like the Denza Z, even if import tariffs are imposed, could be one of China’s most serious attempts to reshape the global sports car hierarchy. Perhaps, the highly anticipated upcoming Porsche Boxster EV is a model that could come close to the Z in terms of market positioning.
Image Source: Denza
