Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity vs BYD Sealion 8

What's the difference?

Mercedes-Benz is having a crack at the camper van market with its luxury recreational vehicle, the Marco Polo Activity. Not quite a van, not quite a camper van, this compact pop-top is aimed at appealing to those members of the ever-growing van-life sub-culture who prefer clamping over camping. 

We put an Activity through its paces on daily family duties for a week, as well as a 200km loop of bitumen and dirt roads, in order to see how well it fared as an Adventure mobile.

As the flagship variant, the BYD Sealion 8 Premium all-wheel drive makes a big first impression as it arrives with seven seats, a plug-in hybrid powertrain and a features list that reads like a wish list.

It’s also stepping into a competitive space, lining up against the Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid, Kia Sorento GT-Line PHEV and Mazda CX-80 P50e Azami - all promising similar blends of efficiency, space and value for Australian families.

The Sealion 8 Premium looks like a strong contender on paper … but does that translate to the real world?