BYD Shark 6 vs Lexus ES300H

What's the difference?

The BYD Shark 6 Premium has burst onto the scene with plenty of hype and a bit of side-eye from Aussie ute loyalists. 

We’re a tough crowd, especially when it comes to vehicles that need to juggle family life, work gear, and weekend adventures. 

So we put this handsome newcomer to the test to see whether it delivers genuine practicality and fun, or if it’s simply talking the talk in a ute-shaped body.

What’s the closest thing we have to a modern-day Holden Statesman/Caprice?

If, like General Motors, you obliterate Australia’s Own from existence altogether, you’re left with time-honoured rivals also made in this country, like the Ford Fairlane, Chrysler by Chrysler and Toyota’s Crown and Avalon.

But they’re also all in history’s dustbin (well, the American ones, anyway), leaving the humble Camry as the sole living nameplate with any connection to Australian manufacturing.

And since the Lexus ES is a close relative, we’re going to take a fresh look at the latest version, with a view of it as a bit of a survivor of a bygone era – where aspirational vehicles were created from normal family sedans.

Just like the Fairlane, Crown and of course, the Caprice.

Launched in mid 2018 but facelifted in 2021, we test the ultimate version of the seventh-generation ES, the 300h Sports Luxury – or SL, if we’re to make yet another tenuous connection to long-gone Holdens.

Let’s go!