BYD Sealion 5 vs HSV Colorado

What's the difference?

This is the most affordable plug-in hybrid available in Australia – as this review is published – but it’s got a lot more going for it than just that.

The 2026 BYD Sealion 5 is a mid-size SUV wearing a BYD badge that has been thrust into the public’s awareness by the popular BYD Shark 6 – as well as by widespread criticism of brand's less popular aftersales shortcomings through much of 2025.

It’s also a plug-in hybrid that is showing up as the nation faces a fuel crisis, despite many remaining sceptical of going ‘full EV’.

The Sealion 5 has a long list of features, of course, plus a claimed four-figure driving range. Is this BYD too good to be true?

We grabbed the entry-level Essential to find out.

The SportsCat Series II is perhaps not the kind of HSV we've grown accustomed to over the years. But that’s ok. Because HSV is no longer the brand we’ve grown accustomed to, either. Their core product has changed, you see. And so their core buyer has changed right along with it.

In fact, HSV sees itself as almost starting again; rebuilding its customer base (and even its newsletter subscriber base) as it shifts from power-soaked Commodores to imported Camaros and this: the Holden Colorado-based SportsCat Series II.

It looks tough, and has better equipment and finishes than the Holden, but there is not one kilowatt of extra power on offer from its diesel - yep, diesel - engine. 

“We see it as performance, just a different kind of performance,” HSV tells us, pointing to the ute's off-road chops rather than any blistering power figures.

So does this Colorado-turned-SportsCat live up to HSV’s history? And more importantly, does it paint a rosy picture of HSV’s future?