Denza Bao 5, the Chinese 4x4 that wants to dethrone the Defender and the Land Cruiser

Denza is the aspirational and luxury subsidiary of the automotive giant BYD. In fact, a little over a year ago Denza was presented in Milan with an ambitious proposal: to compete with brands like Porsche or Mercedes-Benz on their own turf. To do so, in recent months Denza has introduced a sports car with a shooting brake body style called Z9GT, a luxury minivan, and this new off-roader called Bao 5, which is presenting its credentials on the Old Continent.

The Denza Bao 5 is a forceful car that is 4.8 meters long and 1.90 meters high, with a body dominated by geometric shapes that, it must be said, aims to imitate the appearance of the Land Rover Defender, the Toyota Land Cruiser, or the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The design aspect is quite relevant, as it is headed by the German Wolfgang Egger, a designer who built his career at Seat (with the Ibiza, Córdoba, and Altea between the years 1998-2002) and directed Audi and Lamborghini before accepting a millionaire offer to make the leap to BYD to develop the new sports and high-performance subsidiary Denza. One could expect something more innovative and distinctive from a new design emerging under the direction of the German.

The interior of the Bao 5 bets on the use of quality materials such as Nappa leather or ergonomic seats with massage, ventilation, and heating functions, and a careful digital commitment that includes multimedia screens for the driver and passenger, voice command system, and high-fidelity sound system.

A plug-in hybrid mechanism at a high price

The new Denza Bao 5 debuts a platform developed specifically for this off-roader called DMO (Dual Mode Off-road), which incorporates a 1.5 four-cylinder gasoline engine with two electric motors (one on each axle) to offer a total combined power of 544 hp and 760 Nm of torque. Thanks to the 31.8 kWh lithium batteries, this off-roader can travel in fully electric mode for about 100 kilometers, and in conventional hybrid mode it presents a range of over 800 kilometers.

The DMO platform architecture features three electronic differential locks (one front, one rear, and one central) that promise to be much faster than conventional mechanical ones, as well as a ladder frame chassis that improves the vehicle's rigidity and lowers its center of gravity.

Denza has already announced the prices for the Bao 5 in the Spanish market. The entry-level version, called Elegance, will have a base price of 76,290 euros, while the Ultimate version (which incorporates other extras like a fridge for drinks or a retractable electronic step for getting in and out of the car comfortably) has a final price of 86,420 euros. This price range, which is very high, makes it uncompetitive against veteran and established models like the Defender or the Land Cruiser, which have an established network of official workshops, a well-deserved reputation for reliability, and which will hardly cede their throne to the Chinese newcomer.