The Z9GT is Denza’s bid to give luxury buyers their Bond moment

Luxury cars used to be prevalent. Usually German, sometimes British, sometimes Italian if the brand feels brave. Danza is leaving all that behind.

Z9GT arriving soon in AustraliaAnd it’s not trying to quietly join the premium EV conversation. It’s a big electric shooting brake with around 850kW, claimed to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 2.7 seconds, and charging takes the battery from 10 to 97 per cent in around nine minutes.

Most new luxury brands introduce themselves this way, with a serious guy talking about comfort, design, and craftsmanship in blazers. Danza replaced him with Daniel Craig.

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Not just another EV

Not like James Bond. But this association is not an accidental incident either. Craig has spent two decades creating a very specific kind of cool, expensive, never-try-it building. That’s the mood Denza wants to convey with the Z9GT.

This figure also lifts some heavy objects. In a world full of SUVs the Shooting Brake still looks like a real option, giving the car a taller, lower stance than any other crossover. It feels less like a family hauler with a badge and more like something built for real driving.

Denza is calling it a grand tourer, and the numbers reinforce the claim rather than embellish it. An 820 km CLTC range, the e³ platform with rear-wheel steering, and a tri-motor setup that’s tuned for stability as well as outright speed.

This isn’t exactly a car built to win traffic light drag races, although it clearly could. European pricing has reportedly kicked off around €115,000 (~$190,000 AUD), which puts the Z9GT next to proper luxury cars rather than expensive EVs trying to borrow their prestige.

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luxury with new badges

The cabin is really convincing. Nappa leather, a 50-inch augmented reality head-up display, Devialet audio, 128 color ambient lighting, ventilated and massaging seats, extended foot rests and even a built-in refrigerator. This seems excessive until you remember that every luxury feature seems like this until someone else makes it standard.

This is the part that Denza needs to get right. The power and charging speed of the car gets attention for a week. Having a cabin that people actually want to sit in is what makes it stand out against the names that have been doing it for decades.

Whether Australian buyers really regard the Denza as a luxury name rather than another fast EV is the real test, and it’s one the car hasn’t faced yet.

Pricing, local specifications and charging realities are all still ahead of it, and any of these could weaken the pitch if Denza gets it wrong.

What is already clear is the opening statement. Fast, full of tools, one of the most recognizable faces in modern cinema, and not the slightest bit shy about any of it.

This can’t be a Bond car. It’s definitely chasing emotion.