BYD, Daimler increase DENZA's registered capital for the third time

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Registered capital of Shenzhen DENZA New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd. (DENZA), a joint venture between BYD and Daimler, has been increased to RMB4.56 billion from RMB4.16 billion, according to data from business information platform Qixinbao.

Meanwhile, the total capital contribution amount of the joint venture has grown from RMB5.66 billion to RMB6.06 billion, which is equally paid by two parent companies. This is the third year in a row for BYD and Daimler to add capital to DENZA.

The new energy joint venture was founded in 2010 with an initial registered capital of RMB2.36 billion. Taking the high-end new energy vehicle (NEV) as the gateway, DENZA launched its first model in 2014. Although the automaker increased the vehicle's battery range up to 451km via two times of change-over in 2018, it has not released any all-new product after that.

Up until now, DENZA sold only about 10,000 vehicles since hitting the market and its annual sales in 2018 even failed to reach 2,000 units.

According to BYD's announcement, the NEV maker had suffered a cumulative loss exceeding RMB2.6 billion by the end of 2017. Then BYD and Daimler provided DENZA with respective capital of RMB500 million, which was mainly used to offset the negative effect caused by China's adjusted NEV subsidy policy.

In addition, DENZA once again received a total of RMB800 million worth of capital from two parent companies in last May, making the joint venture's registered capital increased to RMB4.16 billion. The investment expansion are mainly used in staff expense in daily operation, marketing advertising, payment to suppliers, bank principal repayment, vehicle purchasing, upgrade and test of battery and construction of service network, etc.