08/06/2025-Sunday Special

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Luxury on wheels

The infotainment screen also gives you access to Youtube.

Denza D9 Advanced FWD

Denza D9 Premium, Advanced review to help you make informed decision

BY KESHY DHILLON

MALAYSIANS love their luxury MPVs. All you have to do is to step onto a busy street and it will not take very long to come across a Toyota Alphard, Vellfire or a Hyundai Staria. Cars may generally be expensive in Malaysia but that does not stop us from loving our them. And there is a lot to love when it comes to luxury MPV’s. The spaciousness and comfort MPV’s offer are obviously the main attraction but the convenience they offer families is undeniable as well. This gravitation towards luxury MPV’s undeniably started with the Toyota Alphard. But of course, the MPV love affair began much earlier than that. Some of the earlier MPV’s that come to mind are the Renault Espace, Mazda 5, Ford S-Max, Naza Ria, Kia Carnival and a few others. There are more as well, but bear with me. However, the Alphard and Vellfire can be credited for appointing a touch of lux ury in the humble MPV. In fact, it was the grey (parallel) importers that were brave enough to ship

the Malaysian market. Quite impressive considering the official imports cost was about half RM500,000. A full RM200,000 more than what the grey importers were selling them for. This sales success caught the attention of others, and before long Sime Darby wanted a piece of the pie as well and introduced the Hyundai Staria. The Premium variant of the Staria costed upwards of RM365,000 and was quite a hit as well. Dinamikjaya, the importers and dis tributors of Kia cars in Malaysia, also enjoyed success with the Carnival. And now, the Chinese are the latest players and Denza is the latest entrant into the segment. WHO IS DENZA? Malaysians may have only recently come to know Denza, but the Chinese luxury brand has been around since 2010. Officially known as the Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automobile Co Ltd,

the company was started as a joint ven ture between BYD Auto and Daimler AG. The company’s first concept car was shown at the Beijing Auto Show in 2012, and by 2014, the Denza 300 was launched in China. It was built on a Mercedes-Benz B-Class platform with BYD’s electric powertrain. Denza faced an uphill climb to be accepted by Chinese car buyers, and by 2022 BYD had acquired all of Mercedes Benz’s stake in the company. This ended a 13-year joint venture, and judging by how well the company has been doing, it was arguably the right move. By 2023, Denza had introduced new models including the D9 electric MPV, which was just launched in Malaysia in February of this year. And because Malaysians love their lux ury MPV’s so much, the D9’s flying off their showroom. In fact, it has been reported that Denza received over 800 orders for the D9 within a week of its launch.

The crystal gear selector is shared by both variants.

these cars to the Malaysian market. And before long, UMW Toyota wanted a slice of the very lucrative pie as well. In 2014, UMW Toyota officially began selling the Alphard and then in 2016 expanded to include the Vellfire in its line-up as well. Sales picked up and by 2023, UMW Toyota had sold its entire allocation for