BYD Sealion 6 News

Three years ago almost nobody in Australia had even heard of BYD, but now the Chinese manufacturer is a top-five brand here, outselling big names Aussies used to flock to like Honda, Nissan and Subaru. All that now stands in its way is Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Kia and Hyundai. And all BYD has to do is add four new models to its range and it could leave those holdouts in its dust. But not just any models - these models.Rapid just doesn’t describe well enough just how fast BYD has grown in Australia. To go from zero sales in 2021 before it had arrived to selling 32,839 cars so far just in the first eight months of this year is overwhelming. Well, it has been for brands such as Nissan, Honda and Subaru, who haven’t sold more than 30,000. Even the big Europeans like Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Audi haven’t sold more than 20,000 this year. Hyundai doesn’t exactly have a comfortable lead either with 51,957 sales year to date, and neither does Kia with 55,554. Mazda might think it's safe with 63,208, but really only Toyota doesn’t have to panic yet with 163,491 until the start of September.Three or possibly four new models for BYD will easily reach 60,000 sales for the same period, catching Kia and Hyundai and possibly overtaking Mazda, too. But not just any models will do this, only the right ones will, but it's easy to see what they are from the sales data.Looking at the latest sales data from the first eight months of the year, it is clear what models BYD needs and it’s not more mid-sized SUVs, the brand has this covered with the Sealion 6 and Sealion 7, with the possibility of the Sealion 5 coming, too. BYD also has the big-selling Shark 6 4x4 ute. Having popular mid-sized SUVs and a ute are key ingredients for success in Australia as these are the largest-selling segments. Toyota is the king of this recipe with its HiLux ute and RAV4 SUV, and it’s why Kia has just launched its Tasman pick-up to help the Sportage SUV with the heavy lifting. But Toyota and Kia don’t just rely on these cars to succeed. BYD has such momentum and the attention of Australians now that if it places a model to rival Toyota and Kia in other key segments, it will gain ground. And it can absolutely do this - not only is the company financially secure, it has an excellent supply chain and production process, plus it has the models already made. First, and everybody can see this, BYD needs a large, off-road SUV, something that will rival the Toyota Prado. If BYD is able to make that happen, it could gain up to 20,000 sales a year. These are all very conservative numbers too, the potential for much bigger sales is there.After all, have you seen how many BYD Shark 6 utes are getting around with canopies? Stylish ones that make this hybrid 4x4 pick-up look like an SUV, similar to a Ford Everest or Toyota MU-X. Can you see where we’re going here? Yep, it’s going to happen. BYD’s answer to the Prado is its Denza B5. The B5 is a ladder-on-frame, large, off-road SUV that’s also a plug-in hybrid with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and two electric motors producing a combined 505kW and 760Nm. That’s slated to arrive late this year or early 2026, albeit marketed under a separate Denza brand that is owned by BYD.Next is a small SUV. BYD has the Atto 3 but at 4.5m long, it's almost classed as a 'small' mid-sized SUV. So something smaller to rival the Hyundai Kona or Mazda CX-30 is needed. We won’t have to wait long because by the end of this year the BYD Atto 2 electric SUV will launch in Australia. At 4.3m long, the Atto 2 is the size of a Kona. A smaller SUV like this could bring in 15,000 extra sales for BYD each year.Finally, BYD needs to bring a light SUV here the size of Toyota's Yaris Cross - but fully electric like Hyundai’s Inster. Again, BYD already has this - it’s the Atto 1. BYD doesn’t plan to bring the tiny SUV here. If it does, it could pick up another 5000 sales a year.Essentially, though, BYD needs the large, off-road Prado rival and the small Kona rival to start really worrying the brands currently ahead of it in the sales charts, and these models - the Denza B5 and Atto 2 are coming. It’ll be interesting to see what BYD’s year-to-date sales are this time in 2026 - 50,000? Very likely, at least, this by the looks of it. 

BYD is expanding its Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV range. It has just launched the new fully loaded Sealion 6 Premium Extended Range variant, which joins the more budget friendly Dynamic Extended range and Essential, Dynamic and premium Standard Range examples.

China’s BYD has introduced two variants to its top-selling Sealion 6 mid-size plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV line-up in Australia.The mid-spec Dynamic trim level has returned to the local Sealion 6 line-up and is now being offered in two versions – Standard Range and Extended Range.The latter of these is a new addition to the Sealion 6 local line-up.The 2026 BYD Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range is priced from $46,990 before on-road costs.This is $1000 more than the Sealion 6 Dynamic Standard Range. This trim level was previously priced at $48,990 before on-roads.A full pricing table for the 2026 BYD Sealion 6 line-up is at the bottom of this story.Compared to the rest of the line-up, the Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range has a larger 26.6kWh ‘Blade’ lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. Other variants use an 18.3kWh LFP battery.As a result of having this larger battery pack, the Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range is claimed to be able to travel between 120 and 140km on electric power alone, according to an NEDC testing.The regular Sealion 6 front-wheel drive variants can travel up to 92km on electric power, whereas the Sealion 6 Premium Standard Range AWD can travel up to 81km on electric power, both according to NEDC testing.Total range for the new Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range is 1092km according to WLTP testing. It also has a claimed fuel consumption of 0.8L/100km with a battery state of charge from 20-100 per cent. Under this it's claimed to consume 4.8L/100km.Like the other front-wheel drive Sealion 6 models, power comes from a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a front-mounted electric motor. Total system output is 160kW of power.The BYD Sealion 6 Dynamic trims uniquely pick up a new black interior colourway.The Sealion 6 Essential and Premium Standard Range AWD continue to come with a black and brown interior colour as standard. The latter trim is also offered with a no-cost blue and grey colourway.Over the Sealion 6 Essential, the Dynamic trims also pick up a power tailgate, rotating 15.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system, 10-speaker Infinity sound system, head-up display, RBG interior ambient lighting, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, metal door sill trims, heated and ventilated front seats, eight-way power driver's seat adjustment, front parking sensors and a surround-view camera.Exterior paint colour choices for the Sealion 6 remain unchanged. They include Arctic White, Stone Grey, Harbour Grey and Cosmos Black.All the finishes except Arctic White cost an additional $900.

One of the world’s largest carmakers' recent entry into Australia is proving fruitful, as China’s BYD finds itself sitting amongst the nation's top 10 brands.But BYD hasn’t only just managed to nab itself 10th or even 9th - in June 2025 the brand was the fifth-most popular behind Toyota, Ford, Mazda and Hyundai.In fact, in the entire first half of the year BYD has sold 23,355 cars in Australia putting it ahead of competitors like Isuzu (21,883), MG (21,674), Nissan (20,604) and Subaru (19,910).The first six best-selling brands in terms in the first half of 2025 will be familiar: Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Kia, Hyundai and Mitsubishi. But then? GWM and BYD.While GWM’s growth compared to the first half of 2024 is up a steady 17.0 per cent, BYD’s rise since the same period last year is meteoric. Compared to its 9548 sales up to June 30 in 2024, BYD’s 23,355 sales so far this year means it’s up 144.6 per cent.Eighth on the ladder year-to-date is an impressive feat for a brand most Australians likely hadn’t heard of just a couple of years ago, but the brand recognition brought about by its Atto 3 and the few models launched since has clearly worked.The brand has even made it into the ute market before mainstays like Kia, with its plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute having broken the five-figure sales barrier. The brand has shifted 10,424 Sharks since its launch earlier this year.It’s unsurprisingly BYD’s most popular model, followed by the Sealion 6 PHEV (4375 YTD) and its electric Sealion 7 sibling (3756 YTD).The Atto 3 remains popular enough despite sales halving compared to the same point last year, now 1854 units this year-to-date, followed by the Seal sedan (1609 YTD, down 60.7 per cent) and Dolphin hatch (1337 YTD, up 7.1 per cent).The only thing that seems like it could see BYD come undone is a report from last week via Reuters that production at some BYD factories has been “cut by at least a third”, but it’s yet to be seen whether this is confirmed, or whether this will have a direct impact on Australian sales.

BYD is gearing up for a massive new-model rollout that should cement its place in Australia's top 10 car brands.

Toyota's first plug-in hybrid model for Australia is on track to arrive locally by the first half of 2026 following the sixth-generation RAV4's reveal.

Chinese electric car maker BYD is following a secret five-year massive growth plan, which will see it sell half its vehicles overseas by 2030. This will make it a vehicle manufacturer on the same scale as Toyota and Volkswagen, according to a new report.The report by news outlet Reuters cites four people “familiar with the matter” who said BYD’s executives have committed to an ambitious strategy, which will see the electric vehicle brand undergo such an enormous output and sales increase that the company will rival even the world’s largest car manufacturers.BYD has just become the largest selling brand in its home country of China, overtaking Volkswagen last year with 4.27 million units sold.Last year BYD sold 417,204 vehicles overseas and this year the company plans to double that number to 800,000.  The Reuters report revealed BYD met privately with the company's investors to notify them of the growth plan, but it is not known if an actual 2030 predicted sales figure was disclosed.According to the insiders the way that the company wants to be able to achieve their grand plan is by localising production throughout the world. The plan outlines the need to have factories operating in Hungary, Uzbekistan, Brazil and Thailand in order to be able achieve its goal.BYD’s global growth plan will not include the United States, where recent high tariffs against Chinese carmakers have prevented the brand selling its cars there and made the company focus on Europe as the key to its success. Australia, too, will be part of BYD’s plan. Currently Australia doesn’t impose tariffs on Chinese carmakers and this combined with our fairly new and strong interest in electric cars has seen a multitude of Chinese brands arrive here offering what the established mainstream brands could not — very affordable electric cars.  This includes brands such as Geely, Zeekr, MG and Deepal.In April this year alone BYD sold 3207 in Australia, outstripping even Volkswagen with 2076 sales by an enormous margin. And all of BYD’s cars are electric or hybrids.BYD, which started as a battery maker before turning its hand to producing vehicles, arrived in Australia in 2022 with its first EV, the Atto 3 small SUV. The brand soon brought more vehicles to Australia including the Dolphin, Seal, Sealion 6 and Sealion 7 and the Shark 6. 

The BYD Sealion 6 is already Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid (PHEV), but it could soon get a new variant that increases the amount of electric-only range.According to government approval documents, a new version of the Sealion 6 is approved for sale in Australia to sit alongside the existing front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive variants.Dubbed the BYD Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range in the approval documents, it features the same 72kW petrol engine and 145kW front-mounted electric motor as the existing front-wheel drive Sealion 6 Essential. Total system output is 160kW of power.The big difference, however, is the high-voltage battery pack. The approval documents don’t specify an exact battery capacity, but the Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range is 53kg heavier than the Essential, with a tare mass of 1958kg.Given the extra heft and its name in the approval documents, it’s expected this new extended-range version has a larger battery pack.BYD already offers the Sealion 6 with a larger 26.6kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery in certain markets. For context, existing versions of the Sealion 6 have an 18.3kWh LFP battery.This version of the Sealion 6 is already on sale in the UK, which means the car is already being produced in right-hand drive.Thanks to the larger 26.6kWh battery pack, it gets a longer electric-only range of 125km, according to WLTP testing. With the regular 18.3kWh battery pack on the other hand, the car gets 80km of electric range, according to WLTP testing.With well over 100km of electric range, this version of the Sealion 6 has considerably more EV range than rivals like the Jaecoo J7 SHS and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.One of the few PHEVs with more electric range is the GWM Haval H6 GT PHEV, which has a stonking 35.4kWh battery pack and an electric range of 180km, according to lenient NEDC testing.Beyond this, little else is confirmed about this new extended-range Sealion 6 in the approval documents. It has a braked towing capacity of 750kg and 19-inch alloy wheels.Although it’s called the Sealion 6 Dynamic Extended Range in the approval documents, it’s unclear whether it will actually launch in this trim level.BYD moved away from the Dynamic trim level name when it introduced the new entry-level Essential variant across a number of existing models like the Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal and Sealion 6.If BYD did reintroduce the Dynamic trim with this new extended range Sealion 6, it would sit between the existing Essential and Premium variants.These Sealion 6 variants are currently priced at $42,990 before on-roads and $52,990 before on-roads, respectively.We’ve reached out to BYD’s local distributor, EVDirect, about the prospects of this new Sealion 6 variant launching in Australia. We’ll update this story once we hear back.

Will the Geely Starship 7 be the brand’s second model for Australia? Essentially a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of the company’s EX5 EV released in the beginning of this year, the five-seater mid-sized SUV could arrive before the end of 2025, opening up the brand to a much wider audience. If given the green light, it would directly target the popular BYD Sealion 6 and Mitsubishi

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