BYD Atto 3 News

People movers were never cool in Australia, but that’s changing as our evolving tastes take us out of SUVs and into little buses.

Fledgling carmaker Leapmotor intends to make a splash in the small hybrid SUV space late this year with the launch of the B10 REEV.

Australia’s premium small SUV hybrid class is about to experience a shake-up with the arrival of the Alfa Romeo Junior.

BYD might have just changed the EV game around the world, revealing a charging breakthrough that can deliver 400kms in driving range in just five minutes.

A new world order is forming in the electric car segment in Australia.Tesla and BYD might not be the mighty forces they once were as two EV princes wait in the wings to snatch the crown.The Tesla Model Y, which was streets ahead of the rest in sales through 2024, has come back to the pack.Tesla sales were down 33 per cent in January, following a more than 16 per cent drop in 2024.It shifted just 465 Model Ys and 274 Model 3s. The Model Y was still the best selling electric car in Australia in January but it was down on its usual performance of more than 1500 a month in 2024.An updated version of the Model Y is due in coming months, but it will be significantly more expensive. The current version will likely be in short supply until that point meaning it could give others a head start in the EV sales race.BYD sales also fell off a cliff in January down almost 50 per cent. Sales of its plug-in hybrid Sealion 6 SUV kept the brand afloat but EV sales were down dramatically with the Atto 3 down 77.4 per cent, Dolphin down 66.8 per cent and Seal down 91.2 per cent.Recent port issues are likely to blame for part of the slow sales, but the brand has also announced new cheaper variants of the Dolphin and Atto 3 to boost sales.Surely it's just a blip on the radar and both brands will roar back in the coming months, but what if they don't reach the same EV heights as before?This could open the opportunity for the Kia EV5 and MG4 electric cars to have a crack at the Model Y’s crown.The MG4 was the second best selling EV in January with 440 sales and the EV5 was third with 289.A big selling point for the MG and Kia are their warranties: MG has a 10 year/250,000km guarantee and Kia has a seven year/unlimited km security blanket. Both easily trump Tesla’s four year/80,000km warranty.Both also sell through a conventional dealer model rather than a majority online portal like BYD and Tesla.Both the MG4 and EV5 are both built in China, same as the Australian delivered Teslas, which give them the same price, supply and short shipping advantage as the market leaders.Australians also now have far more choice in the electric car space compared to 12 months ago. A wave of new brands from China include Deepal, Geely, Leapmotor, XPeng and Zeekr, which all launched with Model Y sized alternatives cheaper than their big name rival.Those brands — with the exception of Leapmotor — don't yet report sales.Conventional car makers have started to bring their own EVs online to help dilute the market that was very concentrated on just a few brands a year ago.The chances are Tesla will rebound in the coming months from its January sales, in what is a traditionally slow month for the brand.Kia is unlikely to muster the 25,000 EV5 sales needed to claim the top spot with the brand predicting a run rate of 400 a month in 2025.MG on the other hand has shown it is willing to heavily discount the MG4 to boost sales.For a short period it was the cheapest electric car on sale during 2024, with the base model costing just a smidge more than $30,000 drive-away. The price cut saw MG4s fly off the lot, outselling both Tesla models combined in October 2024.This year will be a challenge for many of the large electric car sellers as cost of living pressures bite and the well has run dry of early adopters willing to pay overs for the zero-emissions tech.

BYD’s upgraded Atto 3 electric car creeps closer to launch.The updated small electric SUV has been spotted testing in China, according to CarNewsChina, not long after it was revealed via homologation documents in its home market.The updated Atto 3 isn’t a revolution, but rather an evolution of the existing model.Styling and tech tweaks will headline the revised version.It comes with a new front bumper with a larger air intake and it has a fresh rear bumper, too.This is joined by a new rear spoiler and redesigned tail-lights.These changes are complemented by a few additional black and chrome highlights.One of the big changes is likely to be the addition of advanced self-driving technology. A new camera in the front bumper points to the inclusion of this tech, which BYD is reportedly going to rollout across its entire line-up regardless of vehicle cost.It is believed BYD has focused on urban self-driving and highway self-driving features in its next-gen technology.BYD has reportedly moved very fast developing the technology, getting up to speed in about two years.It has been reported BYD has worked with Chinese tech giants Huawei and DJI to develop the software needed to fit the self-driving technology in its vehicles.The advanced software helps the vehicle maintain its spot in the lane while driving and can even assist with changing lanes in vehicles fitted with the future tech.There are no interior shots yet, but it is likely there will be some tweaks inside too.There isn’t expected to be any changes underneath the Atto 3, which means it will maintain the same battery and motors as current versions.Two battery options are currently available: a circa-50kWh unit delivering a driving range up to 345km, and a roughly 60kWh pack providing up to 420km of range.Both batteries are lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which do without rare earth metals such as nickel and cobalt. They are cheaper to build but less energy dense than the nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries found in higher-end electric cars.Sales of the Atto 3 plummeted in Australia in 2024, dropping from about 11,000 in 2023 to less than 6000. This is likely due to BYD beefing up its local range with three new models providing more options for buyers and the Atto 3 starting to show its age.Sales should get a bump this year thanks to the new entry-level Atto 3 Essential variant arriving in January that drops the price below $40,000.

If you think Chinese car brands can't teach Toyota, Ford or GM anything about making vehicles better, think again!

Just days after BYD's local division announced a new entry-level Atto 3 Essential grade, the brand has previewed a redesigned model in its home market.

With so many new brands and models entering what appears to be a softening new car market, what started as a price skirmish is quickly evolving into all out war, with BYD announcing further reductions on cost-of-entry to some of its most popular models.

Australia’s electric car price wars are heating up once again, with BYD becoming the first-ever brand to advertise an electric car for under $30,000. Starting at $29,990, before on-road costs, the new Essential variant will lead the two-grade Dolphin range, sitting $6900 below the outgoing Dynamic ($36,890) and top-spec Premium ($42,890).