BYD Seal vs Toyota RAV4

What's the difference?

BYD. The three letters which keep auto executives from the world's top brands up at night.

The brand’s meteoric rise in Australia from a trickle of imports to a torrent of Chinese-built EVs, outselling even Tesla in the first month of 2024, is testament to this relative newcomer’s ability to surprise and impress its buyers and the industry as a whole.

The car we’re looking at for this review, the Seal, could be its biggest challenge yet. Not only does it have to compete head-to-head with the car which put EVs on the map for mainstream buyers - the Tesla Model 3 - but it also has to vie for a share of the increasingly shrinking sedan market.

So, what’s the deal with the Seal? Is it any good? And, why did BYD choose to name it after a marine mammal? Read on to find out.

The Toyota RAV4 is arguably Australia’s darling and has been for years. It’s long set the benchmark in the mid-size SUV segment - a position rivals like the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Mazda CX-5 would love to occupy.

It’s also been close to a decade since we’ve seen anything new from the RAV4, so expectations for this sixth-generation update are understandably high. For this family review, we’re testing the flagship Cruiser Hybrid 2WD, which brings the most features and the biggest price tag in the line-up.

On paper, it promises meaningful upgrades, particularly in technology and refinement, while holding onto the practicality and efficiency that made it so popular in the first place.

But with stronger competition and rising expectations in this segment, the question is no longer whether the RAV4 is good, it’s whether it’s done enough to stay at the top.