Denza Bao 5: the budget Defender that never arrived, at £69,500 in the UK
denza.com
Denza has priced the Bao 5 in Britain from £69,500, only £2,000 below the plug-in Defender. The ladder-frame hybrid brings 544hp, 90km of electric range and 310mm of ground clearance, with deliveries due in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The Denza Bao 5 has not become the affordable alternative to the Land Rover Defender. In Britain the ladder-frame plug-in hybrid starts at £69,500, around 81,200 euros. That is only £2,000, roughly 2,300 euros, below its British rival in plug-in form. The Ultimate grade asks £78,880, close to 92,200 euros.
With the gap that narrow, Denza is leaning on hardware and standard equipment instead. A 1.5-litre turbo engine works alongside two electric motors for 544hp and 760Nm. The base car covers 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and the Ultimate in 5.0 seconds, while the 31.8kWh battery is good for 90km of electric running on the British WLTP cycle.
Even the entry-level Bao 5 Elegance brings ventilated and massaging front seats, heated rear seats, a panoramic roof and a separate display for the front passenger. The Ultimate adds hydraulic DiSus-P suspension that lifts ground clearance to 310mm. The catch is capacity: Denza stays strictly a five-seater, while the Defender 110 can be ordered with a third row.
32CARS.RU has already covered the European premiere of the Bao 5 and its DMO off-road hybrid system. The price now reshapes the pitch entirely: buyers are not getting a budget Defender but a direct premium rival with a different balance of power, equipment and badge recognition.
First deliveries are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. With barely £2,000 between the two, the deciding factor is no longer the size of the saving but whether seven seats and a familiar British badge are worth giving up for 544hp.
