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Australians are ready to spend up to $100,000 on a Chinese luxury SUV, according to a key company executive.
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BYD’s tilt at the Australian luxury car segment – through newly minted brand Denza – is not going to be an uphill battle, according to the local brand boss.
While acknowledging there will always be challenges in building a successful luxury brand in Australia, Denza Australia Chief Operating Officer Mark Harland told Drive Australian car buyers are ready to spend up on a Chinese luxury car.
“Even three to five years ago, no way (Australians were ready).” Harland told Drive.
“Given what BYD has done in the last three years, and some of the other Chinese brands, I think Australians are more open (to it).”
Toyota brought Lexus to Australia in 1990, and grew it into a successful brand over a long period of time.
More recently, Hyundai’s luxury spinoff Genesis is gaining traction in Australia, mostly through one model (the GV70 medium SUV).
“At the end of the day, we’re bringing not only a great product at a great price, but it has the quality and the safety and all those things that people may have been concerned about before.” Harland told Drive.
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“And then, the next step beyond that… is the customer experience.” Harland said.
“That’s why 50 per cent of my day is focusing on taking care of our customers, House of Denza customers, building after sales capability, extended roadside assistance, and all that kind of stuff.”
Denza appears to be looking at Lexus for inspiration for the ownership experience, with the brand’s ‘House of Denza’ concept supplying owners with access to function rooms and spaces, as well as ‘money can’t buy’ experiences beyond the showroom floor.
Denza has already logged 1000 orders of it’s first two models in Australia – the B5 and B8 four-wheel drives – as it plans to expand both it’s model range and dealership network.
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Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell
