When many car companies began to launch their own high-end new energy brands, perhaps many people did not know that BYD had established the world's first high-end new energy vehicle brand - Denza- as early as 11 years ago with The Daimler Group, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. I thought that the two sides joined forces and the future prospects of Denza were bright, but since its inception, the presence of the Denza brand is very low, and sales have been tepid.
After 11 years, Denza still has not been able to "live". Now BYD and Daimler have chosen to "split up." According to the Equity Transfer Agreement on Adjusting denza's Equity Structure signed by the two parties, the equity transfer is expected to be completed in mid-2022. After the completion of the equity transfer, BYD will hold 90% of Denza's shares, while Daimler's shareholding will drop to 10%.
In addition, its holding subsidiaries BYD Automobile Industry and Daimler increased their capital by 1 billion yuan in monetary terms to Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. Although Daimler withdrew from the market in the 11th year of cooperation with BYD, Denza was after all a "child" who watched him grow up, and until the last moment Daimler was still willing to pull another Denza.
It can be said that Denza grew up shouting the golden key, after all, BYD and Daimler two car companies, no matter which one is a heavy existence in today's auto market. In 2010, Daimler and BYD signed an agreement on Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd., a 50:50 R&D technology joint venture, to develop and produce new energy vehicles in China and for China. The joint venture company launched a new model under the brand of "Denza", which is the first Sino-foreign joint venture company in China to focus on new energy vehicles, and the Denza brand was officially established.
At the beginning of the birth of the brand, WANG Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, also said: "As a child of Daimler and BYD, Denza is a brand born on the shoulders of giants. "At that time, the momentum was full of confidence, but what was surprising was that Denza did not shine as it should have from beginning to end."
The performance of depressing 300, 400, 500 and other series models launched by Denza in the follow-up is not optimistic in the market, with only more than 10,000 units sold in four years. Since its establishment in 2010, Denza has received a total of 12 investments from BYD and Daimler shareholders, and the registered capital of the follow-up company has increased from 2.36 billion yuan to 5.76 billion yuan, but it has never achieved profitability, not only is it not profitable, but its cumulative loss is as high as 3.5 billion yuan.
In order to reverse the decline in the market, BYD and Daimler also thought of many remedial measures. Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd. is responsible for the operation of the Denza brand, including sales, marketing, brand communication, customer service, etc., to enhance brand awareness, while BYD is responsible for manufacturing and controlling product quality. It can be said that from funds to publicity to marketing, and finally to the product itself, both sides have devoted all their thoughts and methods to "healing", but in the end they have not been able to hold up the momentum.
From the perspective of the degree of loss, Denza has become a "hot potato", and IT ISD and Daimler separated sooner or later, after all, Denza "food is tasteless, and it will not feel pity to abandon it".
For Daimler, after withdrawing from Denza, there is more time and energy to serve the development of its own EQ series electric vehicle products, after all, the current Performance of Mercedes-Benz's EQ series market is not satisfactory, rather than not focusing on both ends, it is better to grasp only one side, put all the thoughts on its own products, and also prepare and plan for Mercedes-Benz to achieve the goal of "full electric" in 2030.
For BYD, Daimler's departure is not "harmful and unproductive". Although the cooperation between the two sides can be called a strong and strong alliance, there is one thing to say, Daimler's brand influence is overshadowed by BYD, and Denza has more and more Daimler's shadow, while BYD cannot exert its skills, more like an accessory. Now that BYD holds 90% of depressive shares, it can boldly reshape the brand image of Denza, coupled with BYD's development advantages in the field of new energy vehicles, at least in the future, DENZA does not have to worry about technology and product planning.
There is no doubt that Daimler's withdrawal has brought a huge blow to Denza, and can the deforestation of people take tea and coolness rely on BYD's own strength to "turn over the salted fish"? We'll see.