New BYD ute incoming!

BYD’s next dual-cab ute is slowly getting closer to being revealed.

Another prototype has been spied with heavy camouflage, as reported by Autohome and Car News China. It looks virtually identical to the prototype that was spied earlier this year.

While we can’t see exact design details on this particular prototype, patent imagery from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) showed exactly how this car will look in a rendered form.

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It appears this ute shares a lot of its exterior design with the BYD Sealion 6, which is already sold in Australia.

The biggest departure from this model is the altered front fascia, as well as the pickup tab at the back with the Shark 6-esque full-width LED light and sports bar.

It’s reported this new BYD ute will have a unibody chassis, much like the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. These typically prioritise passenger comfort over payload capacity.

If this is the case it’ll be a departure from the BYD Shark 6, which has a ladder-frame chassis and is related to the Denza B5 and B8.

At this stage no other official information about this currently unnamed BYD ute has been confirmed as it hasn’t been revealed yet.

It could form as part of BYD’s Shark ute line-up which currently only consists of the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) dual-cab ute.

It’s expected this new BYD ute will have a PHEV powertrain, but no details have been locked in yet.

The Shark 6 is powered by dual electric motors and a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing total system outputs of 321kW and 650Nm.

The Sealion 6, on the other hand, either comes with a single electric motor and a 1.5-litre petrol engine producing a total system output of 160kW, or dual electric motors and a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing a total system output of 238kW or 258kW, depending on the battery pack size.

Given patent imagery of this new BYD ute surfaced in Europe, this could point toward the Chinese market aiming this vehicle at export markets. Car News China reports it will launch in South America first during 2026.

It’s unclear whether an Australian launch is on the radar.

In November BYD Asia Pacific General Manager Liu Xueliange denied all knowledge of a smaller ute to slot under the Shark 6, saying these “no plan”.

"No, we don't have any plans," he said through an interpreter when quizzed about the new model.

"It doesn't exist."

Last year BYD Australia former CEO David Smitherman said to CarsGuide the only way to go in the ute segment is up.

“But, you can see that the range of different [types of] utes in Australia is significant,” said Smitherman.

“We've had significant interest from fleets around [the Shark 6 and future variants there-of] …and around full-sized utes as well.

“And you know how passionate I am with my prior history about the full-sized ute segment.”

The BYD Shark 6 has experienced meteoric success in Australia since it launched locally in late 2024.

Until the end of November this year a total of 16,398 examples of the Shark 6 have been sold. This places it ahead of the likes of the GWM Cannon Alpha, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara and Volkswagen Amarok.