For years established automakers have been setting up joint ventures in order to build and sell cars on the booming Chinese market, and Mercedes-Benz is no different.
The Stuttgart-based automaker created Denza back in 2010 by teaming up with local partner BYD to make and sell electric cars in the People’s Republic. Right now it only sells a single model, the Denza 500 hatchback (named after the number of kilometers it can travel on a single charge), but it plans to add a crossover to the range in the near future.
That crossover is called Denza X, it looks like a far more convincing effort than the Denza 500, at least in terms of design. Whereas the 500 was a strange looking bubbly hatchback, the X is a sharp and sporty looking seven-seater crossover whose design is very smart both inside and out.
We don’t exactly know how much Mercedes is actually in the Denza X, but parts of the interior do seem to be borrowed from the Three Pointed Star (the electric seat controls, for instance, appear to be straight from the Merc parts bin). Denza does admit that the X is “styled by Mercedes-Benz,” and this is even noted on small plaque placed on the rear and fenders, as well as script on the dashboard.
It certainly doesn’t ride on a Mercedes-Benz platform (it’s not a restyled EQC for China), because we know its underpinnings are actually shared with the more conventional looking BYD Tang. Both powertrains are also shared with the Tang; one is all-electric, but there’s also a plug-in hybrid version too.
The latter is considerably more powerful, with a combined output of over 400 horsepower from its 2-liter turbo and two electric motors and a claimed sub-5-second sprint time to 100 km/h. The pure electric X is motivated by a 242 horsepower electric motor and its quoted one-charge range is 500 km (311 miles); this impressive range comes courtesy of a large 82.8 kWh battery pack.
The 2020 Denza X will be officially launched this month and it will go on sale exclusively in China in 2020.
Google News