BYD has achieved full control of premium new energy vehicle (NEV) brand Denza, after increasing its stake in the joint venture with Mercedes-Benz to 90 percent in 2022.

Denza's operating entity, Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automotive Co Ltd, saw a change in shareholder information on September 14, with Mercedes-Benz dropping out and BYD becoming the sole shareholder, according to China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

A Mercedes executive, Hans Georg Engel, withdrew from Denza's list of directors, according to the database information.

That means BYD has bought the remaining 10 percent of Denza from Mercedes, after increasing its stake from 50 percent to 90 percent in 2022.

Denza was initially founded in February 2011 as a 50-50 joint venture between BYD and Daimler, China's first Sino-foreign joint venture focused on NEVs. In February 2022, the Daimler brand was rebranded as Mercedes-Benz.

Denza initially launched the Denza 300, Denza 400, and Denza 300, three battery electric vehicle (BEV) models, and the Denza X hybrid SUV (sport utility vehicle). Sales of these early Denza models, which are now discontinued, were weak and the brand was not well known.

On January 24, 2022, BYD said in an announcement that it had signed an equity transfer agreement with Daimler for Denza, which would increase BYD's stake in the company to 90 percent and reduce Daimler's stake to 10 percent. The deal closed in mid-2022.

BYD relaunched the Denza brand in mid-2022 and unveiled the D9 MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) on May 16, 2022, as the first model of the updated brand.

Denza D9 was officially launched on August 23, 2022, and deliveries began on October 25 of the same year.

Denza subsequently launched two more SUVs, the N7 and N8, but their contribution to the brand's sales was limited.

In the January-August period of this year, Denza sold 79,894 units and the D9 contributed 71,342 units, or 89 percent.

Since March 2023, monthly sales of the Denza D9 have basically been around 10,000 units.

Denza will officially launch the tri-motor Denza Z9GT on September 20, and the model will have a pre-sale price of RMB 339,800 ($47,900).