Peter Lyon
February 20, 2025
China’s stylish automaker Denza briefly teased its D9 fully electric gran tourer for Malaysia’s market at this week’s Denza D9 unveiling by bringing a left-hand-drive Z9 GT on stage.
Eagle Zhao, the managing director of BYD Malaysia, stated at today’s media Q&A session that “very soon… we will also introduce more models into Malaysia, which also includes the Z9 GT,” thereby confirming the Denza Z9 GT’s launch in Malaysia.
Liu Xueliang, general manager of the BYD Asia Pacific Sales Division, revealed that a “second [Denza] model will be introduced this year,” though no exact date has yet been set.
Under the direction of Wolfgang Egger, BYD’s global design director (who has worked on Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Lamborghini projects before), the Z9 GT defies market convention by challenging the typical SUV silhouette in favour of a sleek shooting brake design. And a good-looker it is.
Key exterior design features include a sloping roofline down the C-pillars, a distinctive character line on the flanks that blends into the fender air vents, and large horizontal exterior lighting, with the taillights bearing a faint resemblance to Genesis models.
Given its size—almost 5.2 meters long, nearly two meters wide, and with a wheelbase of 3,125 mm—it should come as no surprise that the Denza Z9 GT has an exceptionally roomy interior. Luxurious interior features including cream Nappa leather upholstery, “Zero-Gravity” lie-flat front passenger seats, a Devialet premium sound system, two refrigerators, and a huge panoramic glass roof with separate front and rear sliding sunshades all suitably enhance the area.
The flagship pumps out and impressive 870-hp
However, the Z9 GT’s powerplant is without a doubt its best feature. Both a plug-in hybrid and a fully electric variant are offered in China and both include three electric motors thanks to the brand’s e3 platform, two of which are mounted on the back axle to provide true torque vectoring capabilities.
On the former variant, a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine functions as a generator to power the motors, resulting in a total system output of 870 hp, which enables a 0-100 km/h sprint of a spritely 3.6 seconds. Denza says that the fifth-generation DM hybrid system is capable of 201 kms of pure EV range (CLTC) from its 38.5 kWh Blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which enables a total range of 1,100 km using the fuel tank.
With its output increased to an incredible 963 horsepower and 710 Nm, the pure electric powertrain considerably improves performance qualities, cutting its century sprint time to only 3.4 seconds. Denza claims a 630 km (CLTC) electric driving range with a 100.1 kWh LFP battery pack.
This model also comes with a standard rear-wheel steering system that can rotate up to 20 degrees. This reduces the turning radius to just 4.62 mm and allows the car to “crab walk,” or spin (almost) in one place, much like the electric G-Wagen’s G-turn feature, which was recently showcased.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
This would have to be one of the best, if not the best looking car to ever come out of China. The Z9 GT’s lines and its proportions are gorgeous and will definitely draw crowds into Denza showrooms. Plus those two powertrains, especially the EV version, give the motoring public what they want in performance and that all-important fun-to-drive factor.
