“We want to make sure our products are tuned in”: BYD premium brand Denza vows to get its vehicles right for Australia first time

September 30, 2025October 1, 2025 Bruce Newton 11383 Views B5, B8, BYD, Denza

BYD-owned premium brand Denza has vowed it will avoid the tuning and calibration issues that have bedevilled other Chinese brands in Australia.

Deepal has brought renewed focus on the struggles Chinese brands have with calibration via recent updates to the control of driver assist systems in the S07 electric SUV.

The changes, which allow the driver to permanently switch off driver monitoring and lane departure warning have drawn a ‘please explain’ from the safety authority ANCAP, which says the S07’s five star rating could be reviewed.

You can read more about this saga that stretches back to the launch of the S07 in late 2024 in these articles:

It’s not only the calibration of overly-intrusive driver assist system and the ease of switching them off that have proved a challenge for Chinese brands but also their dynamic (ride, handling, steering) tune.

While constantly rated highly for value (price versus equipment level), Chinese vehicles are also constantly rated down for dynamic tunes that feel underdone and sloppy.

But Mark Harland, the Chief Operating Officer of Denza Australia and New Zealand expressed confidence Denza as a premium brand – where prices and therefore customer expectations will be higher – would address such issues and ensure proper local tuning.

Denza models have already been spied testing in Australia and engineers from China have visited Australia on study missions.

Harland said BYD and Denza engineers were working “to make sure the ADAS and suspension and everything sets up for Australian roads”.

“We want to make sure our products are tuned in,” he declared.

Denza launches here before the end of 2025 with four models expected to be rolled out in the first 12 months including the Fangchengbao-sourced B5 and B8 PHEV 4×4 wagons and several EVs.

“When I listen to [BYD] chairman [Wang Chuanfu] about his vision of the future if he says it once he says it about 50 times is ‘we will lead the world in technology’,” said Harland.

“And so, if we can place a button into a different place or shortcut something that’s annoying a customer then you know that feedback … will make its way into the proper teams and the change will be done right.

2025 Denza Bao 8 design patent. — 2025 BYD Denza B8 design patent.

“If we don’t like how something’s on lane keep or suspension set-up then we give that feedback and then we want to know when we’re gonna have that change either start production – if it’s a new product – or when we’re going to make a mid-cycle because we’re going to be involved in that.”

Harland has only recently come back from his first visit to BYD in China as Denza’s local boss where he was quizzed on product improvements.

“’What’s working, what’s not working ,what can we correct like immediately with a software update or running production change? If not, we’ll put it in the mid cycle’.” Harland recounted.

“They listen to our input, they want to get better and they act and then they act with urgency.”

BYD has already undertaken some local tuning in these areas for its products such as the Sealion 6 and has committed to expanding that expertise.

Harland said the process of improvement would take the form of local testing and feedback to the factory rather than modifications onshore in Australia.

“I have absolute confidence in the million people that work back there – no joke over a million – to deliver,” Harland said.

With a strong 4×4 skew in its model range, Harland confirmed Denza’s localised tuning would extend to developing its own accessories line for Australian applications.

“Accessories that require local compliance local testing for safety would be done with a local supplier,” he explained.

“A bull bar is very unique to Australia. You’re not hitting kangaroos in China or Canada. So that has to be done with a local supplier, tested and compliance, and then it needs to fit our vehicle and not look like a bolt-on.

“And then if there’s things … that can be done in the factory … like mud flaps or boot liners and deep dish mats and things like that. If that can be done at scale … then we’ll do it in the factory.”