Video: Denza Z9 GT makes its debut at the Festival of Speed

11th July 2025

Adam Wilkins

Denza arrives in Europe as BYD’s premium sub-brand. In much the same way as Toyota has Lexus, Hyundai has Genesis and Nissan had Infiniti, this is China taking aim at the European establishment – with the Porsche siblings of the Taycan and Panamera in its sights.

Denza started out as a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz, but it’s now all-Chinese. The Z9 is available in either all-electric form or as a plug-in hybrid as the GT. A 206PS (151kW) four-cylinder 2.0-litre primarily charges two electric motors, but can direct drive to the wheels when necessary.

There’s a 271PS (199kW) motor for the front wheels and a 299PS (219kW) motor for the rear. To save you the maths, that totals 776PS (569kW), and there’s a total of 934Nm (689lb ft) of torque. That’s enough to lug the 2.8-tonne Z9 GT to 62mph in 3.4 seconds.

Aside from the bald figures, the Denza has steering and suspension tuned for European markets. You can’t really tell that by watching the Z9 GT make its way up the Hill, but the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard nonetheless gives us our first chance to see the car in action. So... this or a Porsche?

The 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed is underway! You can watch every moment of the action by watching our livestream.

Photography by Rob Cooper.