In China, the Denza brand is referred to as the luxury offshoot of BYD, starting life as a joint-venture company with Daimler (now Mercedes-Benz) as equal partners back in 2010. Mercedes-Benz subsequently reduced its share to 10% in 2021. After initial reskinned efforts that saw limited success, Denza or 腾势 (Téng shì) is now poised to take on Europe with the Z9 GT – a five-door shooting brake grand tourer.

The rise of BYD in recent years has not come out of the blue, having ex-Audi design chief Wolfgang Egger (who also spent time at Alfa Romeo, SEAT and Lancia) on its payroll certainly helped in the styling of vehicles under the BYD umbrella. Egger took it upon himself to unveil the design of the Denza Z9 GT at the recent Beijing motor show, kicking off his presentation with a quote from the famous French fashion designer, Coco Chanel.

The Denza Z9 GT certainly has an eye-catching exterior design with thought-provoking details, even if it shadows the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo in concept. Egger calls the new design language seen on the Z9 GT as ‘Elegance in Motion’ and that it perfectly blends Eastern and Western aesthetics.

Dimensionally, the Z9 GT is slightly larger than the aforementioned Porsche (it has a wheelbase of 3125mm) and sits on BYD’s e3 platform which accommodates fully-electric or hybrid drive systems, three-motor propulsion and rear-wheel steering. The Z9 GT is expected to be launched late this year but Denza will hold a technical showcase of the vehicle within the month of May (the cabin has yet to be shown).

In the Beijing preview, Denza also revealed that the Z9 GT has set a new record in the ‘moose’ handling test (surpassing 85km/h) and that it would come with nearly 1000hp and a 0-100km/h achievement of 2.0 seconds. Maybe Mercedes-Benz should have held on to its equal share longer. #Denza #Z9GT #WolfgangEgger #BYD ... See MoreSee Less

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While it’s noteworthy that Pekan (in Pahang) is now the first production site outside of Germany to put together a Golf R, this has come about following the local assembly of the Mk8-generation Golf GTI which began last year. Given the high level of commonality between the two models, it makes business sense even if the combined sales volume isn’t likely to set sales charts alight. Of course, more Golf-based models could spawn from this investment as well.

Being a CKD model, Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) is likely awaiting confirmation from the authorities on the MSRP of the Golf R, hence the indicative pricing of between RM330,000 to RM350,000 to facilitate order-taking. RM350K may not strike as a bargain when the fully-imported Mk8 Golf R was introduced at under RM360K back in February 2022, but do consider that the price sailed above the RM400K mark when sales tax was reintroduced earlier this year and also the post-pandemic inflation which afflicted the automotive industry.

Further justifying the indicated price is an equipment level that’s notably higher on the locally assembled Golf R as it comes fitted with R Performance package goodies such as 19-inch Estoril alloys, more playful drive modes, an extended rear wing and a lightweight, titanium exhaust system by Akrapovic. The CKD Golf R also gets the IQ.Drive suite of active safety nannies and even a driver’s heads-up display. The all-wheel drive Volkswagen Golf R has a rated output of 320hp and 400Nm, it does 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds. #VolkswagenMalaysia #GolfR ... See MoreSee Less