2026 Denza B5 review

What’s that, you say? Another new Chinese brand in Australia?

The talk of the past few years has been around the constant influx of new auto brands from China, and some have cemented a stronger foothold than others. BYD is a prime example, launching locally in early 2022 and becoming Australia’s eighth-best selling brand by the end of 2025.

A trend is emerging, though. A Chinese automotive powerhouse will launch in Australia, attract decent sales, and then start muddying its own waters by introducing other new brands that are similar, but ‘different’. Think MG with IM, or Chery with Omoda Jaecoo.

And so it’s BYD’s turn for a piece of that pie. Enter Denza, BYD’s designated brand for global luxury vehicles – think of it like Toyota and Lexus, but a touch more confusing if you’re at all familiar with the Chinese market.

As has been the case for other Chinese brands in recent years, Denza’s global lineup will comprise models sold under different BYD-owned brands in its home market. These include Yangwang and Fangchengbao, the latter of which has provided the two plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ladder-frame SUVs that Denza has now brought to Australia as part of its debut.

One is the B8, a huge 3.3-tonne three-row monster with a claimed 0-100km/h time of just 4.8 seconds, and the other is the smaller SUV on test here: the B5, which brings two-row seating but retains the outrageous performance and weight of its bigger sibling.

They’re meant to go off-road, too, which means they’ll square off against the immovable Toyota LandCruiser family – the 250 Series Prado in the case of the B5 tested here, and the 300 Series in the case of the B8 flagship.

The kicker? They’re cheap –really cheap – at least in the context of luxury SUVs. The B5, for example, undercuts both the mainstream Prado and its more luxurious Lexus GX twin, while still packing all the standard equipment you could ever want.

That includes crucial off-road gear such as low-range gearing and mechanical locking differentials, items that BYD was heavily criticised for omitting when its Shark 6 PHEV ute launched in 2025. The B8 is more expensive, sure, but still much cheaper than the LandCruiser 300 Series.

The result is a pair of SUVs that promise far greater capability and value than any BYD product seen in Australia to date. The only issue is that Aussies don’t know what a ‘Denza’ is, and the proliferation of new brands locally means it could easily get lost in the crowd.

Despite that, Denza has one clear goal: become a top-five luxury brand in Australia. It isn’t going in blind, either, with plans to rapidly expand its dealer network while leveraging the reach earned by BYD and supporting its customers with bespoke aftersales services and experiences, just as other luxury brands do.

All that counts for nothing if a brand doesn’t have the product to back it up, though, so CarExpert was among the media outlets invited to South Australia to sample both the B5 and B8, both on- and off-road, in our first proper test of what’s now available in showrooms.

As the cheaper of the two, does the B5 have what it takes to shake up Australia’s luxury off-road SUV hierarchy, or has BYD ‘s upmarket push missed the mark?

How much does the Denza B5 cost?

The B5 is currently the cheapest Denza available in Australia, starting at $74,990 before on-road costs.

The B5 Leopard commands a $5000 premium and adds Nappa leather upholstery, ventilated rear seats, 20-inch alloy wheels and, most notably, BYD’s advanced DiSus-P hydraulic suspension system. We’ll detail that later on.

The Denza B8, meanwhile, costs either $91,000 or $97,990 before on-roads, depending on the variant.

As for B5 rivals, the most obvious are the Toyota Prado and Lexus GX twins, because the B5 is suggested to deliver Lexus-levels of luxury at Toyota prices, and its pricing reflects that. The Prado starts at $73,220 before on-roads (variants with adaptive damping start at $88,100 before on-roads), and the GX550 starts at $118,320 before on-roads.

You could also consider the Land Rover Defender, which starts at $99,500 before on-roads in five-door form, albeit with a turbo-diesel engine. PHEV variants start at $131,100 before on-roads.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

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What is the Denza B5 like on the inside?

Many characteristic Chinese design cues have found their way into the B5’s cabin, but there’s still an unavoidable sense of quality.

On first impressions, material choice is excellent, with buttery-smooth leather on the steering wheel and centre console, plus satin-finish buttons and accents, and comfortable seats finished in plush leather, or Nappa leather in the Leopard.

You’ll also notice a classy set of buttons and switches on the centre console, which are very similar to what’s fitted in the Shark. Not only does this provide some physical controls in an otherwise screen-heavy cabin, but it also does wonders for perceived luxury – no rivals have crystal-look switches in a cockpit-style arrangement.

There are plenty of other similar touches too, though some are more practical than others. The wireless phone charging pads, for instance, are finished in suede and feature air vents that effectively keep things cool, while the central cupholders offer incredibly thoughtful button-operated depth adjustment.

On the other hand, the gear selector needlessly extends up from the centre console when you start the car, and there are obnoxious swooshing noises every time you switch drive modes. Horses for courses, I suppose.

Above all, build quality appears to be exceptional. There are no creaks, rattles, or excessive movement when operating any interior fittings, and even tiny components like the divider on the wireless charging pad feel welded to the car’s frame.

Being a BYD product, the Denza B5 is naturally tech-heavy inside. The 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system takes centre stage – as these screens do in many Chinese cars – and it’s where you’ll find every mode, setting, and app available in the SUV.

There are a lot of them, too. Despite having spent roughly six hours with both the B5 and B8, we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of everything to be found here. It’s fair to find that daunting, but we appreciate that every key function is easily accessible.

The drive mode menu is accessed via one of the crystal buttons, the vehicle settings menu is accessed via a button on the steering wheel, and the climate system is found in an always-on ribbon at the bottom of the display (aside from swiping gestures for fan speed and temperature). There are plenty of other similar shortcuts, and all help alleviate some of that intimidation.

Otherwise, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and the display is graphically sharp with no input lag at all. One observation is that the top of the screen’s housing gets very hot, no doubt due to its direct exposure to the sun.

Moving to the B5’s 12.3-inch digital instrument display reveals a tidy but somewhat bland unit, with typical BYD graphics and a sparsely populated area with various text, numbers, and widgets floating about. The steering wheel also obstructs the upper corners.

There isn’t nearly as much to discover here as there is in the infotainment system, but there are still a handful of informative menus to flick through using the buttons on the steering wheel. Its integration into the dashboard is also somewhat more considered than that of the infotainment ‘iPad’.

If none of that convinces you this is meant to be a luxury vehicle, the cabin’s amenities should leave no doubt. To start, both B5 trims get a central storage box that can both refrigerate and heat its contents – activating the latter, however, produces a humorous warning.

To quote: “Heating turned on. Please do not place Coke and other explosive items inside” – where else am I supposed to store my C4?

All jokes aside, we understand Denza will have this updated imminently, just like the Shark 6 was launched with ‘Sand Land’ and ‘Muddy Land’ off-road drive modes that were later renamed. These are just minor language quirks and good for a laugh if nothing else.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a storage tray under the centre console with USB-A and USB-C ports, a sizeable passenger-side glovebox (which sometimes stuck shut), and a sunglasses holder on the ceiling. There are bottle holders in the doors – albeit small ones – and sturdy grab handles in front of the passenger and at both ends of the dashboard.

The front seats are fitted with heating, ventilation, and a massage function as standard; the latter is configurable with multiple patterns and intensity levels. Powered seat adjustment is also standard, though steering wheel adjustment is manual.

The second row is incredibly spacious, and you’ll have no issue pulling yourself in thanks to the robust grab handles on the B-pillars. Headroom is not an issue since the B5’s cabin is effectively a cube and, uniquely for an off-road SUV, the floor is completely flat, which opens up leg and foot room.

Because there’s no prop shaft connecting the front and rear axles, there’s no need for an old-school driveline hump. That means all three seating positions are equally accommodating, though the outboard seats in the Leopard also have ventilation and heating.

This is operated via a touchscreen on the back of the centre console, as are the basic climate controls. Below that is a discreet panel that opens to reveal two USB ports, though the B8’s handy feature to open the cooled/heated box backwards is missing here.

The bench seat itself is fairly comfortable, and there’s a fold-down armrest with cupholders in the middle. Plus, the panoramic sunroof above extends all the way above the rear passengers for maximum sun coverage.

The side-opening tailgate reveals a square boot with a floor that sits at a decent height for loading and unloading. The packaging here creates a solid space for cargo, and you won’t find any awkward fittings like you do in a Prado.

The decision not to follow its rivals with a top-hinged tailgate aids accessibility if you park in a tight garage. In terms of quoted capacity, the B5’s on-paper capacity (470-1064 litres) is much smaller than that of a Lexus GX (1138-2177L), but the two manufacturers likely use different measuring techniques.

It’s a similar story in the hideously compromised boot of the seven-seat Prado, which quotes 906-1829L. In reality, the B5 appears more practical than the Prado in particular, even if the boot floor doesn’t extend quite as far towards the front of the car.

Under the floor is various safety gear for changing a tyre, supported by a full-size spare mounted on the tailgate. Again, Denza hasn’t copied Toyota in mounting the spare under the vehicle, presumably to accommodate the rear electric motors.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

Powering the B5 is a plug-in hybrid setup similar to that in the BYD Shark 6: a PHEV powertrain with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine at its core. Peak outputs are quoted at 400kW of power and 760Nm of torque – considerably more than a Shark – and it has selectable low-range gearing as standard.

Other differences from the Shark include a slightly larger BYD ‘Blade’ battery, front and rear mechanical diff locks, and advanced DiSus-P hydraulic suspension in the top-spec B5 Leopard.

Denza explained that the B5’s Dual-Mode Offroad (DMO) system is designed to operate more like an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) than a PHEV, with several components you wouldn’t typically expect in a vehicle marketed as very capable off-road.

Both axles are primarily driven by their respective electric motors, with the engine primarily there to charge the battery and sometimes to drive the front wheels. There’s also no driveshaft running the length of the vehicle, which means no mechanical link between the front and rear axles.

Additionally, there’s no traditional transfer case, yet the B5 boasts ‘low-range gearing’. Denza says this is effectively simulated by adjusting how torque is distributed through each motor to achieve the same result as old-school mechanical low-range.

Curiously, that means the driver doesn’t need to select ‘neutral’ to access low-range, as Denza says there’s simply no real neutral gear. It’s all very unorthodox if you’re familiar with traditional 4x4s, but Denza promises the B5’s off-road capabilities are the same, if not better.

The reliance on electric motors has also allowed functions like ‘Leopard turn’, which spins the wheels at different speeds on each side of the vehicle to turn in a tighter radius than usual.

The long and short of it is that the B5 is claimed to have all the same gear you’d find in a typical four-wheel drive off-road SUV, even if it’s achieved via atypical means.

As a side note, we didn’t have enough time in any one B5 on Denza’s launch to record a representative real-world fuel-economy figure, though we did see figures hovering around 8.5L/100 km when driving in hybrid mode.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the Denza B5 drive?

It’s safe to say our expectations for the B5 were immediately blown out of the water once we hit the road.

First impressions count, and the B5’s imposing stature gives it an immediate advantage. It’s tough without being brash, which becomes more apparent once you enter its classy interior and hit the red start/stop button on the centre console.

It’s fair to then expect a gruff diesel idle, but instead you get nothing. Unless the battery charge is too low, the B5 starts in EV mode and therefore wouldn’t disturb a butterfly on startup. The gear selector then rises out of the centre console, allowing you to select Drive and set off.

EV mode really does mean EV, and the B5 is more than happy to drive without its engine running. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is an EV, because the driving experience isn’t at all compromised by the lack of combustion power.

That’s a telltale sign of a well-engineered PHEV system; the B5 is designed to behave like an EREV, after all. There’s plenty of power under foot when you lay into the throttle, moving the three-tonne Leopard with frightening ease.

I’ve never before experienced such a poignant demonstration of monstrous power in a vehicle that, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t look capable of handling it. The B5 will absolutely mince a Prado without even moving a piston.

Select HEV mode, Sport mode, or Race mode, and the B5 will then do its best impression of a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The front of the car will point to the sky while the rear-end squats hard under acceleration – we measured up to five degrees of pitch using the car’s in-built monitor.

It’s worth mentioning the engine will fire up in any of the above modes, but it’s impressively muffled and doesn’t sound at all strained from inside the car. That makes sense given it’s only supplying a small power boost to the front wheels while the electric motors do the heavy lifting.

The cherry on top is that the B5 even offers launch control when in Race mode… what could that possibly be for?

We’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s run it back. The B5 happily chugs along in EV mode, but with a claimed 90km of driving range you’ll inevitably have to switch on the engine at some point – and not just to impress your friends.

Hit the dedicated EV/HEV button and the B5 will switch over to hybrid mode, when the engine fires to life but doesn’t invoke any noticeable change in driving performance. Instead, it’ll immediately begin charging the battery, allowing you to continue without using any extra brain power.

This genuinely impressed us. The fact the car instinctively manages power like that eliminates a lot of guesswork for people who may be used to diesels, and you can set the charge target so the car will eventually switch back to EV mode on its own.

If you’re worried about a lack of power from the engine when charge runs out, don’t be. Denza says its PHEV system is designed so you’ll always run out of petrol before you run out of charge, and topping up with petrol is still much more convenient on road trips.

Ride comfort is plush by ladder-frame SUV standards. It’s night and day compared to Prados without adaptive damping, or even to GXs with adaptive damping as standard, as it’s compliant and does a good job of keeping everything in check.

It’s especially impressive for an off-road SUV with a sticker price below $80,000. Despite his cushy ride, it isn’t at all wallowy or floppy in corners; control of its three-tonne mass is nicely managed, and at no point did we feel like it could get away from us.

It’s worth noting that this applies only to the Leopard, as it’s the only B5 fitted with DiSus-P hydraulic suspension. We didn’t drive the non-hydraulic base model at Denza’s launch, and we understand the Leopard has accounted for a much larger share of B5 sales so far.

Additionally, the B5 Leopard offers two stiffness levels compared to the B8’s three, which noticeably affect handling and body control. Both are equally usable but, unsurprisingly, we found Comfort mode the most enjoyable.

The steering, meanwhile, is also well-calibrated, and the fact there’s nothing really notable to say about it suggests it’s quite good. It doesn’t responds faithfully, provides decent feedback from the road, and offers nice weighting regardless of the drive mode.

Our final note on the B5’s fundamentals regards its brakes. Unlike some other new hybrids, the brake pedal feels solid and predictable, and there are two regenerative braking modes that both feel like traditional engine braking. The large brake calipers and drilled rotors up front add peace of mind in such a large vehicle.

As with the interior, there’s simply too much going on in the B5 to give everything equal airtime. There are no fewer than 16 drive modes, which is ludicrous and likely far more than any owner would ever need or want.

All are toggleable via dials on the bottom two spokes of the steering wheel, and most are for off-road driving. Depending on the mode, the car will raise or lower its suspension by up to 90mm, engage low-range gearing, adjust torque distribution, or do almost anything else you can think of.

Each item – low-range, diff locks, hill-descent control, ride height control, etc – can also be engaged individually as needed. Further, there is a mountain of information displayed on the infotainment screen in each off-road mode, including everything from a compass and tyre-pressure readings to real-time roll angles and vehicle dimensions.

As for off-road performance, our driving in the B5 was neither extensive nor hardcore, giving us only a basic understanding of its capabilities. That said, it was able to tackle steep hills covered in loose dust and rocks with ease, even on highway tyres.

You can certainly feel the car’s systems working to find traction when slip is detected, and you can very easily engage any of the off-road gear mentioned above if necessary.

The B5’s strength here is configurability, and anyone coming from an old-school 4×4 will be blown away by the amount of user-friendly gear on offer.

Additional benefits include live camera feeds for all exterior cameras, including the surround-view monitor, which are very useful given the height of the bonnet.

Finally, the car’s safety systems are generally solid, apart from a couple of noticeable drawbacks. One is a warning that pops up saying ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) tech is unavailable, which we noticed whenever there was wheelspin while off-roading.

This occurred frequently and it was always accompanied by a beep – likely a symptom of a confused traction control system.

The final and most critical point here is the driver attention monitor, which is simply far too sensitive and very annoying. It struggles most notably if the driver is wearing sunglasses, so some refining is very much needed here.

We’ll endeavour to thoroughly test the B5’s off-road and towing capabilities once we get it into the CarExpert garage.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

There are two variants in the Denza B5 lineup.

2026 Denza B5 equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Continental 265 65/R18 tyres
• Full-size spare
• Electrically actuated mechanical front and rear differential locks
• Automatic LED headlights
• Front cornering lights
• Front and rear fog lights
• Power sunroof with power sunshade
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Keyless entry and start
• Rear privacy glass
• Power-folding exterior mirrors
• Power tailgate
• NFC key
• BYD Connected Services incl. remote start, pre-conditioning
• Head-up display
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• In-car mobile hotspot
• 4G network connection with 2GB per month data plan for 2 years
• Over-the-air updates
• Four-zone voice assistant
• 16-speaker Devialet sound system
• 1 x wireless phone charger (front)
• Leather upholstery
• 8-way power driver’s seat with memory, 4-way power lumbar
• 6-way power passenger seat with 4-way power lumbar
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Massaging front seats
• Heated rear seats
• Heated steering wheel
• 4-way manually adjustable steering wheel
• Multi-colour ambient lighting
• Dual-zone climate control
• 60:40 split/fold rear seats
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

B5 Leopard adds:

• DiSus-P suspension
• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Pirelli 275/55 R20 tyres
• UWB key
• Nappa leather upholstery
• Ventilated rear seats
• Digital rear-view mirror
• 1 x wireless phone charger (rear)

Slate Grey is the standard interior colourway, with Jade Green and Sandstone options available.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the Denza B5 safe?

The Denza B5 boasts a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted in 2025.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

• 11 airbags, incl:
  • Front
  • Side
  • Curtain
  • Driver’s far-side
• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Child presence detection
• Driver fatigue and distraction monitoring
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Forward cross-traffic assist
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Surround-view camera
• Traffic sign recognition
• Tyre pressure monitoring

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the Denza B5 cost to run?

The Denza Australia range will be backed by the same warranty offering as BYD: a six-year, 150,000km vehicle warranty and an eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty. The B5 requires servicing every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first, apart from an initial check-up at six months or 3500km.

Simply put, the B5’s service intervals are far more long-haul friendly than the Prado’s. It doesn’t need AdBlue, either.

In fact, the B5’s intervals are twice as long as the Prado’s, which needs servicing every six months or 10,000km. However, Prado maintenance costs are considerably less over five years, with a total cost of $1975, while the Lexus GX costs a whopping $6950 to service over the same period.

Servicing for the Land Rover Defender PHEV, meanwhile, is covered by a $3300 five-year plan.

To see how the Denza B5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Denza B5

We came away thoroughly impressed with the B5, and we anticipate it’ll be something well worth keeping an eye on in the world of off-road SUVs.

In what should appease both tech-heads and off-road fanatics alike, BYD has produced a luxury SUV with genuine chops both on- and off-road, backed up by more equipment and features than you could ever want.

It also has clever management of its advanced PHEV powertrain, and its preference for electric power doesn’t compromise its driving experience in any way. It’ll be interesting to see how its fuel and energy consumption stack up in the real world.

We can’t ignore the obnoxious driver monitor, and the Leopard’s underdone 490kg payload might be a sore spot for some. Four or five adults and their luggage will easily go close to that limit, and let’s not forget that it weighs half a tonne more than the Prado despite being infinitely faster.

Even so, the Denza B5 is a real statement of intent from BYD. It may not be a threat to the Lexus GX, whose owners are more than happy to splash $140,000-plus on a rugged, twin-turbo petrol V6-powered large SUV, but we implore prospective Prado buyers to give it a look if they’re not wedded to the Toyota badge.

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