A Denza B8 has been spotted on a shopping run in the suburbs of Melbourne, suggesting the large off-roader is closer to being officially confirmed for Australian showrooms. 

The black B8 – a seven-seat off-road rival to the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol – was spied in a shopping centre car park with its badges masked with black tape to hide its identity.

In China, the B8 is sold by BYD as a Bao 8 under its Fangchengbao brand, which translates to ‘formula leopard’.

However, an Australian version is expected to be sold as a Denza, BYD’s premium brand scheduled to launch locally in October. 

Denza will be the next premium Chinese brand in Australia, following Geely’s Zeekr. There’s also IM Motors, another SAIC Motor brand like MG and LDV, which is sold through MG showrooms under the ‘IM Motors presented by MG Motor’ banner.

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BYD Australia, which took over local distribution on July 1, told CarExpert earlier this year “nothing is off the table” when considering what vehicles from BYD’s global product line it might offer here. 

The spied B8 was right-hand drive, unlike the left-hand drive version CarExpert drove in China in May this year. 

The all-wheel drive B8 uses a 550kW/760Nm plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder paired with electric motors on the front and rear axles and an electronic continuously variable transmission.

The combo gives the 3305kg B8 a claimed 984km WLTP range, including 100km under electric power, as well as a sports car-like 0-100km/h time of 4.8 seconds.