BYD shows Merc up with Denza

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD (1211) showcased its premium brand's first sedan at the Beijing auto show yesterday in a challenge to the likes of Germany's Mercedes-Benz which three years ago pulled out of the brand's development citing slow sales.

The Denza Z9GT is the fruit of BYD founder Wang Chuanfu persisting after Mercedes-Benz effectively became a sleeping partner in their decade-old 50-50 premium EV venture by cutting its stake to 10 percent.

The car will complement Denza's N7 and N8 SUVs and D9 multipurpose vehicle, whose surging sales have contributed to BYD's EV domination at the expense of legacy foreign automakers.

The upmarket push is needed for the market-dominant BYD to increase profitability while the price war squeezes margins of mainstream models.

BYD unveiled five new models under the Dynasty and Ocean Series at the Beijing show, with prices ranging from 120,000 yuan (HK$129,655) to 200,000 yuan.

That came as Mercedes-Benz's China sales chief Duan Jianjun said the company would continue to invest in tie-ups with Chinese partners like internet firm Baidu (9888), noting China was crucial to its global strategy. The giant's executives also said Mercedes would launch the electric G-class in China this year.

At the same venue, other China's EV makers also raced to attract attention.

Geely Automobile's (0175) EV brand Zeekr released an electric van Mix.

Great Wall Motor (2333) said it plans to sell more than one million vehicles a year in overseas markets by 2030, with sales of premium models accounting for more than one third.

Great Wall's first-quarter net profit increased by 17.5 times to 3.2 billion yuan, sending its shares up 5.4 percent to HK$11.82.

XPeng (9868) also revealed that five billion yuan has been invested in research and development of a new brand Mona. Chairman He Xiaopeng hopes the brand would outsell in the second half Xiaomi's (1810) SU7, which is said to logged 75,000 sales since its launch at the end of March.