BYD Shark 6 to toughen up: Big upgrade on the cards to give the Chinese ute more off-road ability to take on serious 4WDs such as the 2026 Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara

Could the Shark 6 be about to take a bigger chunk out of the dual-cab market?

The brand has come as close as it ever has to admitting there’s a driveline upgrade in the works for the Shark 6 dual-cab that would make the vehicle a more serious off-road contender.

That would make it more attractive to recreational four-wheel-drive users as well as open up new fleet possibilities.

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BYD Australia’s Chief Operation Office Stephen Collins told Carsguide that "some improvements" to the Shark 6 were in the works.

“I can’t tell you the specifics,” he said, but confirmed the changes would probably come sometime “…later in the year”.

Mr Collins called the changes an "upgrade" leading to speculation the Shark 6 might grow front and rear differential locks and a two-speed transfer-case, which would vastly improve its off-road performance, the factor that is seen as the Shark 6’s weakest link right now.

Chief Product Officer for BYD Australia Sajid Hasan backed up that theory, explaining that the Shark 6’s existing architecture had already been engineered for greater off-road ability.

BYD Shark 6 (Image: Tom White)

“It’s a possibility, because it’s (the Shark 6) based on a platform that already uses low-range (in the transfer-case (which the current Shark 6 sold here does not) and diff locks. So it’s mechanically possible,” he told Carsguide.

The Shark 6 has been a runaway success for BYD, selling 1108 units in January this year, and helping BYD in the chase for its long-term goal of being a top-five brand in Australia.

“At the end of 20204, we were 16th, and at the end of 2025, we were eighth. We just want to keep improving,” Mr Collin said. “The next phase is to get into the top five and that’s a priority.”

Part of that process will be a push into the fleet market which BYD had, until now, not fully exploited, Mr Collins said.

BYD Shark 6 (Image: Tom White)

“One of the key opportunities (for BYD) is fleets,” he said. “It’s a stable market and customers want fit for purpose vehicles, and are interested in the whole of life cost.”

“For us, so far, this has only been 10 per cent of our volume, but we see this as a really important part of our business going forward.”

“We’re not in the top 20 fleet brands (in Australia) yet. But we’re working hard to improve that performance.”