Articles by Stephen Ottley

These days it seems like a new car brand arrives in Australia each week, so it can be easy to become ambivalent about each new name.But you should be paying attention to the latest arrival, because it has the potential to really shake things up, even if you’ve never heard of it before.Denza is the brand in question, revealing plans for a pair of new ‘premium’ off-roaders — the B5 and B8 — to hit showrooms by the end of 2025. So why should you care about Denza?Because it isn’t an ‘all-new’ brand here, it’s actually a spin-off from BYD, which is already well-established in Australia and rapidly rising up the sales charts with its mix of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, including the popular Shark 6 ute.In fact, it’s the success of the Shark 6, a plug-in hybrid dual-cab, that bodes so well for Denza. The Shark 6 is already amongst the best-selling 4x4 utes on the market, sure it may be nowhere near the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux in sheer volume, but it has already cemented a place amongst the top five utes each month.Based on the sales data available to us, it’s comfortably out-selling Ford’s plug-in hybrid Ranger, showing that a new audience is embracing new technology from new brands in the traditional ute market.Denza will be hoping to do the same in the off-road space, with the B5 and B8 clearly aimed at Toyota’s beloved LandCruiser and Prado. Like the Shark, they will offer something different, with a potent (425kW and 450kW) plug-in hybrid set-up and plenty of other technologies and luxuries.We don’t know how much they’ll cost yet, but despite all the talk of Denza being a ‘premium’ offering, history suggests this Chinese brand will be aggressive on price to undercut its more established competition.The recent strong sales performances of BYD, GWM, Chery and MG underline how important value is to the current generation of brand-agnostic buyers. In this post-Holden/Ford locally-made cars world we now find ourselves, brand loyalty is a thing of the past.Value is what Australian new car buyers are looking for and it’s the Chinese brands that are looking to provide it. Whether it is sustainable or not is an entirely different debate, and one that’s irrelevant for people looking to purchase a new car in the here and now.BYD is already up nearly 150 per cent in sales volume in the first three quarters of 2025, led by the Shark 6 but ably backed up by the Sealion 6 PHEV and Sealion 7 EV SUVs. BYD will look to gain even more of the new car market by appealing to both first time car buyers and EV bargain hunters, when the new $25k Atto 1 hatch goes on sale and undercuts not only every other electric car but also most cars full stop.It is clear that, now run in-house, BYD is looking to make sure it remains headed up the sales charts. So if you only remember a few names from this current influx of new brands, make sure it’s BYD and Denza, because they are the ones most likely to make a lasting impact.

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