BYD Denza to enter PH market with D9 plug-in hybrid minivan?

Much like other major automakers in China, BYD has its portfolio of brands and one of them will be coming to the Philippines this year. That brand is Denza which was officially confirmed by Liu Xueliang (BYD's Asia Pacific Sales head) to be coming to the Philippines by Q4 of this year.

Offering BYD’s more upscale models, Denza has premium PHEVs and BEVs on its lineup in its home market. While we’re not yet sure if ACMobility will be handling the Denza brand, we found something that will potentially give clues as to which model will Denza offer first in the Philippine market.

The Land Transportation Office has released the homologation documents for Denza’s D9 minivan. It’s a model that’s comparable to the likes of the Toyota Alphard, Kia Carnival, and even the GAC M8.

In its home market, the D9 comes in two flavors – battery-electric, and PHEV or DM-I in BYD speak. But based on the document, the D9 will arrive as the latter. It combines a 1.5-liter turbo engine with an electric motor to produce 231 PS. If we go by BYD’s latest offerings so far with its plug-in hybrid system, then we can expect the D9 to also cover up to 100 km of EV range and up to 1000 km of total range.

With Denza being the more premium offering of BYD in its home market, then we can also expect a likewise premium price tag once Denza launches in the country.