For sixty-odd years, James Bond drove an Aston Martin. Constitutionally mandated, practically. The DB5. The Vantage. The DBS. All those gorgeous British bruisers sliding through Alpine passes and Monte Carlo car parks. Daniel Craig himself piloted the DB5 with brooding magnificence. Grown adults considered remortgaging their homes. Even The Queen muscled her way in during the Olympic opening. Remember the Queen and James Bond and their British parachutes?
And now? He’s the face of DENZA.
Yes, that DENZA. BYD’s premium electric technology brand. The one the Chinese automotive empire has been quietly, methodically preparing for world domination while old mastheads CEOs are at the pub still. Craig will appear in marketing materials and TV commercials for DENZA’s key vehicles this year, starting with the Z9 GT grand tourer. It makes its European debut at the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris on April 8.
The irony is delicious. Serve it with champagne and an evening frock. The man who spent four films doing brooding, beautiful things in Aston Martins has signed up with the Chinese brand making the automotive establishment deeply nervous. An electric GT that would probably flog any Aston Martin to date with Bond in the front pew is too fabulous for words.
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ABOVE: Daniel Craig and the Denza Z9 GT — Bond goes electric
But once you’ve seen the DENZA Z9 GT, the casting makes sense. This is not some wobbly blancmange called a “city electric hatchback” for people who want to feel virtuous at traffic lights. The Z9 GT is a statement. A swooping, muscular grand tourer with a fastback roofline that could have been sketched by someone who grew up watching Bond films and thought: yes, I want the car in that. Low. Wide. Menacing in the very best Bond villain way. It carries the kind of physical presence that turns elderly motoring writers into dribbling masses of obsolescence.
Stella Li, BYD’s Executive Vice President, describes Craig as representing “a powerful combination of strength, sophistication and authenticity.” Entirely correct. Also rather canny marketing. Craig is the Bond who gave us vulnerability alongside all that granite-jawed physicality. He made the role feel genuinely dangerous, not merely decorative. He’s not just a pretty face in an impeccable suit. Neither is the Z9 GT.
The timing is perfect. Donald Trump, increasingly demented, wages his fossil-fuelled crusade against electric vehicles. Progress is the enemy. Renewables are a hoax. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has watched oil prices spike every time someone sneezes near a pipeline. The fragility is brutal and obvious. And here we are: a British icon, the face of the world’s most famous spy, throwing his lot in with a Chinese electric grand tourer. One imagines Trump rage-posting from a Mar-a-Lago dunny at 3am after 5 burgers and 15 glasses of Fruity Lexia. The adults have moved on.
DENZA positions itself as the world’s first premium brand devoted solely to new energy vehicles. Although, the Chinese also consider “new energy” to include PHEV which is rather naughty of them. It has already planted its flag in Australia with the D5, D8, and D9 models. The global expansion in 2026 is the next move. Unveiling the Z9 GT inside one of the most spectacular opera houses on earth suggests a brand with no intention of being modest.
None of this would have seemed possible five years ago. A British cultural icon synonymous with British engineering luxury, now the ambassador for a Chinese electric brand unveiling a grand tourer in France. The automotive establishment, still clutching its pearls and hoping this whole EV situation might blow over, must be feeling faint. A war over oil and greed is doing the very thing the oligarchs won’t want. What will they all do when we all have battery cars, battery homes, and a 100% renewable grid backed by rooftop assistance?
The Z9 GT arrives in Europe on April 8. Bond is in attendance. Whether Q has approved the charging infrastructure remains classified. Whether the Aston Martin board has finished dramatically weeping into their shaken-not-stirred cocktails is unknown.
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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