It's almost impossible to exaggerate the mountain-sized challenge new Chinese brand Denza faces in Australia.
It's really the first premium brand from China to have a proper crack at our market, as opposed to a sub-brand like
Chery's Omoda or
MG's IM. I mean a proper, standalone premium offering with its own dealership network.
That alone is often a boulevard of broken dreams. Look at Infiniti, which vanished from Australia without trace, or even Genesis, which – six years into its run in Australia – sold just 1600 cars here last year, a fraction of the 10,000 sales
Denza says it wants to secure in 2026.
To add another layer of pressure, Denza's first two products (the three-row beast that is the B8, and the smaller B5 reviewed here) are coming up against some of the most unshakeable icons of the off-road 4WD space, including the
Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and Prado, Lexus GX, and
Nissan Patrol.
But Denza has an ace up its changshan sleeve. The B5’s ladder-frame plug-in hybrid powertrain made its debut here in the
BYD Shark 6 – that sales-storming dual-cab ute which achieve the impossible and pulled drivers out of their Toyota HiLuxes and
Ford Rangers and into an electrified Chinese ute.
That tells Denza's executives it can happen again.
How much does the 2026 Denza B5 cost?
It starts at $74,990 plus on-road costs for the standard model, named simply the B5, but some 80 per cent of early buyers are opting for the better-equipped $79,990 B5 Leopard, which deploys clever and self-levelling DiSus-P hydraulic suspension.
Two models, one powertain, lots of kit. Pretty simple. It’s also something of a bargain no matter whether you think the B5 competes with its mainstream rivals, or whether it can take on more luxurious options.
Mainstream? You’re really looking at a Toyota LandCruiser Prado, with its 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine, in which only the GX and GXL trims are cheaper. You’d have to dig deeper to climb into a VX or Altitude model, and the flagship Kakadu tips over $100k. In premium land, you’re probably looking at a Lexus GX, which starts north of $100,000.
Cheaper options that can deliver a similar off-road experience (sans some of the luxury) would include ute-based SUVs like the Ford Everest or Isuzu MU-X.
