By Patrick Koune
Le September 13, 2026 , the Domaine de Chantilly will host a new edition of Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard MilleIn this setting where heritage, classic cars, and automotive design meet, lifestyle, DENZA will take its first steps as a partner of the event. This presence is highly symbolic for the group's premium brand. BYD, which will unveil its spectacular line there for the first time in France DENZA Z.
For one day, the lawns of the Château de Chantilly become the stage for a very French vision of mechanical elegance: historic silhouettes, sculptural bodywork, prototypes, haute couture and collectors come together around a shared passion for automotive beauty.
Created in 2014 to reconnect with the great French tradition of Competition of Elegance, Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille has become an international event where cars are no longer judged solely on their performance, but also on their proportions, their history and their ability to evoke emotion.
For its 2026 edition, organized on Sunday, September 13, the event welcomes a new partner: DENZA. A connection that seems almost natural, given that the brand's young expression of automotive luxury is based precisely on the meeting of technology and aesthetics.
When technology becomes a form of elegance
The philosophy of DENZA It can be summed up in three words: “Technology Drives Elegance”, a statement of intent particularly suited to this prestigious event.
The group's premium and technological brand BYD intends to build a new definition of the high-end automobile, in which innovation, performance, design and refinement are no longer separate universes but different facets of the same product.
In an automotive environment where technology sometimes becomes too pervasive, DENZA champions a different approach: it must serve the driving experience and contribute to the car's design. The partnership with Chantilly Arts & Elegance thus takes on a strategic dimension. It allows the brand to juxtapose its highly contemporary vision of the automobile with the grand historical codes of European luxury and elegance.
But DENZA did not choose Chantilly solely to display its logo alongside prestigious houses; it comes with a genuine technological demonstration.
DENZA Z: the first French electric sports car with 1,604 hp
This will be one of the most anticipated new features of the weekend: after its presentation at Festival of Speed de Goodwood, the DENZA Z will appear for the first time in France in its versions Coupe, Spider et Racing.
The Z probably represents the most spectacular expression of DENZA's technological ambitions. Designed around the sports platform e³, she adopts a three-motor electrical architecture capable of delivering up to 1 604 hpA figure that immediately propelled her into the world of hypercar.
But reducing this car to its power would be to miss the point.
DENZA combines this architecture with intelligent suspension DiSus-Millustrating a fundamental evolution in high-performance automobiles: traditional mechanics are gradually giving way to systems capable of constantly interacting with vehicle behavior.
The announced result is spectacular. In its Racing version, the DENZA Z can achieve the 0 to 100 km/h in 1,96 secondsAn acceleration that places it directly among the highest-performing electric cars of its generation.
FLASH Charging: a few minutes to change your relationship with electric vehicles
Another particularly strategic technology: charging.
One of the major challenges of electromobility is no longer just range, but the ability to quickly regain energy. DENZA addresses this with its technology. FLASH Charging.
On the Z, the manufacturer announces a charging capacity of 10 to 70% in just five minutesWhile charging from 10% to 97% would take nine minutes. If electric cars are to truly compete with traditional GTs on long journeys, it is precisely in this area that part of their future lies.
Performance is no longer measured solely in horsepower or seconds. It is also measured in charging time. And this technological evolution is gradually transforming the very vocabulary of the sports car.
The DENZA Z Spider enters the Concours d'Elegance
But Chantilly wouldn't be Chantilly without the meeting of automotive innovation and beauty. That's why DENZA is also committed to this event. Z Spider at the prestigious Concours d'Élégance.
Within the grounds of the Domaine de Chantilly, the electric roadster will thus be confronted with the aesthetic criteria that have made the reputation of the great European automobile competitions.
Its design is based precisely on this desire to combine aerodynamic efficiency and formal elegance. The surfaces and lines of the Z are not presented as mere stylistic exercises: they reflect the constraints of performance and airflow.
This approach aptly summarizes the paradigm shift currently underway in the luxury automotive industry. For decades, automotive elegance was defined by a long hood, a prestigious engine, and the craftsmanship of coachbuilders. In the electric age, engineers and designers must invent new proportions, new architectures, and new distinguishing features.
In Chantilly, DENZA is precisely there to defend this idea: technology can also become an aesthetic language.
Z9 GT, another vision of grand touring
Another model presented to the public: the DENZA Z9 GT.
More geared towards grand touring, it represents the other side of the brand's universe. It will be on display during the event, and test drives will be offered to allow some visitors to experience its technologies and driving dynamics firsthand.
Its presence intelligently complements that of the Z. On one hand, a radical electric sports car capable of delivering over 1,600 hp; on the other, a GT that seeks to combine sophistication, technology, and versatility. Two ways of interpreting premium according to DENZA, but the same objective: to show that electrification does not necessarily mean standardization.
Around twenty cars were used for the event.
The partnership will not be limited to the competition's lawns.
DENZA and BYD will provide a fleet of approximately twenty vehicles to ensure the smooth transport of VIP guests at Chantilly Arts & Elegance. An interesting initiative, as it transforms the partnership into a real-life experience.
The models will not simply be presented as static objects: some participants will have the opportunity to experience them in the real-world conditions of driving and directly experiment with the technologies developed by the group. In the luxury automotive sector, this approach has become essential. Indeed, a technology can be explained on a technical specification sheet; its refinement, however, must be felt.
DENZA, BYD's premium strategy
Behind DENZA is obviously the industrial and technological power of BYD.
Founded in 1995 around rechargeable batteries, the group has gradually expanded into the automotive, electronics, new energy, and rail transport sectors. Its activity in new energy vehicles now extends to more than 120 countries and regions across six continents, and DENZA occupies a unique position within this ecosystem.
Created in 2010 as part of a partnership between BYD and DaimlerThe brand was conceived around a superior positioning, blending European-influenced design with advanced technological platforms.
Its presence in Chantilly is therefore no accident, because to establish a lasting presence in the European premium market, technology alone will not suffice. It is necessary to build a brand identity, a brand culture, and legitimacy within the world of luxury.
And what could be more symbolic than Chantilly to begin this dialogue?
In Chantilly, the future meets history
The appeal of Chantilly Arts & Elegance has always lain in its ability to abolish temporal boundaries.
A century-old car can sit alongside a concept car unveiled just months earlier. A masterpiece of historic coachbuilding can share the same lawn as an electric sports car packed with software and electronic systems. It is precisely this contrast that makes the arrival of DENZA so interesting.
The DENZA Z is clearly not trying to replicate the great classic cars housed at the Domaine. It offers a different interpretation of automotive exceptionalism: three electric motors, 1,604 hp, intelligent suspension, ultra-fast charging, and aerodynamics integrated into the design. Two eras, two technologies, but ultimately the same ambition: to transcend function and make the automobile an object of desire.
On September 13th, when the Z Spider is presented to the jury of the Concours d'Élégance, it will not simply be there to defend its silhouette. It will be posing a much broader question: What will automotive elegance of tomorrow look like?
For DENZA, the answer seems already written: it will be technological, high-performance and electric, but above all, it must continue to evoke that emotion which transforms a simple machine into an exceptional automobile.
