China's Lexus rival locked in! BYD's premium brand to launch later this year with Toyota Prado-rivalling 2026 Denza B5 before adding hybrid and electric SUVs, people movers and more

BYD has confirmed Australian timing for its version of Lexus and Genesis.

Denza, BYD’s premium offshoot, will launch before the end of 2025, and the first model to carry the badge here is expected to be an off-roader.

In China, BYD has four major brands that sit under its expanding portfolio. There’s BYD which is a mainstream brand, premium brand Denza, and there’s also off-road-focused marque Fangchengbao, as well as the luxury pinnacle of the BYD brands, Yangwang.

Globally the Chinese giant decided to fold the Fangchengbao models into Denza as a way of streamlining the offering.

While BYD Australia is yet to officially announce it, CarsGuide understands the first model to launch Denza marque Down Under will be the Fangchengbao 5.

Called Denza B5 in Australia, it is a large five-seat off-road-capable premium SUV with a ladder frame chassis and underpinned by BYD’s DMO (dual-mode - off-road) Super Hybrid platform - the same used for the BYD Shark 6 ute.

In terms of dimensions, and indeed rivals, the Denza B5 is similar in size to the Toyota Prado-based Lexus GX. The Lexus is about 125mm longer, but only slightly taller and wider.

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2026 DENZA Z9 GT It’s official! BYD’s premium brand, Denza, is coming to Australia in 2025. While the first Denza model is expected to be a Toyota Prado rival, this sleek 2026 Denza Z9 GT is also under consideration. Available with a plug-in hybrid or hybrid powertrain, the Z9 GT shooting brake can crab walk into a car space and it has rear-wheel steering! #BYD #Denza # Z9GT #wagon #EV #car #carsguide #fyp

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One of the key differences is the plug-in hybrid four-wheel-drive powertrain. The B5 uses a 145kW 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine paired with two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, one on each axle. This makes for a combined power and torque output of 505kW/760Nm.

Thanks to the 31.8kWh BYD ‘Blade’ lithium iron phosphate battery, the B5 has an electric-only range of 100km (WLTP) and a combined petrol-electric range of 1200km.

The B5 won’t be alone for long. BYD has shown it does not mess around when it comes to filling model segments and niches, so expect a few more siblings to arrive before too long.

The Fangchengbao 8 is a larger (it weighs 3.3 tonnes) and even more luxurious off-road SUV with seven seats that sits above the B5 and it’s under consideration for Australia as a Denza B8.

Another luxury SUV that could well make it Down Under is the Denza N9, a massive 5.3-metre long with six seats, a three-motor PHEV setup with 160km of WLTP driving range and a blistering 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds. It’s the closest thing BYD has to a Range Rover rival.

Denza also offers a people mover in China called the D9. It is a three-row, seven-seater with two big captain’s chairs in the centre row. It is available in PHEV or fully electric guise, but it is unclear if this will come to Australia. It is, however, under serious consideration as a Lexus LM rival.

Finally, there’s the sleek Z9 GT four-door shooting brake wagon. Also available in PHEV or EV guise, the Z9 GT has rear-wheel steering and is capable of crab walking into a car space.

Built on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0, it comes with a four-litre front refrigerator and a 10-litre rear fridge, to keep the Dom Perignon chilled of course.

In electric guise it can do the 0-100km/h dash in 3.4 seconds, and is only marginally slower in the PHEV - 3.6s.

Keep an eye on CarsGuide.com.au as more news on Denza comes to hand.