Peugeot 408 vs BYD Sealion 7

What's the difference?

The Peugeot 408 GT plug-in hybrid features tech that could be improved upon and like all plug-ins, you get the best economy if you regularly charge it and that’s not always realistic. It is a little expensive compared to its rivals but sports a killer design that looks fresh and the cabin is roomy with nice features.

The BYD Sealion 7 Performance is well-priced and well-equipped. It more than holds its own against its mid-size electric SUV rivals. It has great motor outputs and it handles comfortably on the road. There's a lot to like here but some of the technology needs to be tweaked.

There’s quite a lot happening with the design because of the mash-up of body styles. The long sleek body has sedan vibes but it sits high enough to tag itself as an SUV and the rear has that classic coupe pinching.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I like it. It's bold and different, which feels like a bit of fresh air in this SUV-heavy market.

The lights also set this apart from its Peugeot stablemates and look more refined, too. You can still see the remnants of the original ‘claw’ design in the tail-lights if you look closely but it's the long vertical DRLs at the front that give the design real edge. They resemble the fangs of a snarling cat (just too cool).

The sophisticated sleekness is extended to the interior where you find a cabin that is flush with high-end materials and soft touch points.

The curved dashboard, high-end tech screens and the mix of Nappa leather upholstery and synthetic leather trims definitely cement its grade position. While not a fan of the green contrast stitching myself, it does create an interesting focal point.

It may be named after a sea lion but it doesn’t resemble the blubbery cuteness of the creature itself. However, its sleek dynamic styling and performance outputs do call forth some of the creature's water prowess. 

This prowess is hinted at by the 20-inch alloys which are fitted with Michelin tyres and red brake calipers. There’s some Porsche-like design notes in the wide swoopy nose and LED headlights. The rear is also quite handsome with its long LED band strip and narrow window giving it a sporty silhouette.

Head inside and the Performance showcases the best BYD cabin I've sampled. There are no strange accents or panelling like there are in the Atto 3. This proves that BYD can do premium well.

The quilted leather upholstery feels supple underhand and the sports seats with integrated headrests reminds you what it can achieve in a sprint.

The swoopy design is carried over inside with the door panels. The dashboard is simply styled but headlined by an enormous 15.6-inch display that can rotate between landscape or portrait mode. Some may liken it to an iPad but it works.

The panoramic sunroof keeps things bright and cheerful but there are some simplistic elements that are hard to ignore. Like the lack of buttons, minimalist mirror cover design on the sunvisors and a rather plain-looking centre console.

Everything else flows and my favourite feature inside is surprisingly the lever door handles! They're functional but cute.

Both rows have ample leg- and headroom for my 168cm height. Even my father, who is 183cm tall, felt comfortable in both rows.

The seats are comfortable and offer enough padding to be enjoyable on a long trip. The heat and massage functions on the front seats make the cabin experience feel refined but the massage function sometimes stops when the heat function is also on.

Individual storage is good for the class with the front getting some centre console storage spots, including a phone shelf, as well as a dual-opening middle console, glovebox and two cupholders. There are also a small storage bin and drink bottle holder in each door.

In the rear, there are directional air vents, two USB-C ports, map pockets and a drink bottle holder in each door but you miss out on cup holders, an armrest and other items you might expect for this grade level, like heated outboard seats or climate control.

The other charging options are solid with the front row getting two USB-C ports, a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt socket. There is another 12-volt socket in the boot.

The 10-inch touchscreen multimedia system looks great and you can customise your ‘buttons panel’ to the features you use most often, which is very clever. However, the system isn’t always responsive which gets very annoying - the seat functions in particular can be laggy.

The system does feature built-in satellite navigation and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but the multimedia system is too glitchy to truly charm.

The boot features a tyre puncture repair kit, relatively level loading space and 471L of boot capacity, which has been fine for all of my errands this week. You also get a hands-free powered tailgate, which is always handy.

The cabin has space, space and then more space. Passenger comfort is all but guaranteed with the available leg- and headroom in each row.

The functions for the electric front seats means it's easy to find a comfortable position. Door apertures are wide for each row and despite a relatively low 140mm ground clearance, it's still an easy SUV to slide in and out of.

Technology looks great and the large 15.6-inch multimedia display is what catches your eye first. Graphics are sharply rendered and the touchscreen responsive. There's a lot of information and menus embedded into the display which means it's a system that will take you a beat to get used to.

It's not unique but the in-built voice assistant rarely works as it should and needs some work. Also, because of the lack of buttons and dials, all functions are accessed via the screen. I don't like this because it tends to draw your eyes from the road far more often than it should and some functions - like the heat and ventilation for the front seats - are buried in a few menus.

There is wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but there are some gremlins that need to be ironed out. The connectivity is easy enough but the steering wheel mounted phone control didn't access Apple CarPlay. So, I couldn't hang up my phone call properly, it would instead access the Bluetooth phone menu and dial my last call. I had a few 'butt' dials this week because of it.

Storage is on par with the Performance rivals and up front the burden falls across the large glovebox and middle console but there is also a shelf underneath the centre console for bigger items, like a handbag. There are two phone cradles, although only one offers wireless charging, and two height-adjustable cupholders two drink bottle holders and small storage bins.

In the rear, you get two device pockets and a map pocket on the back of each front seat. There is a fold-down armrest with retractable cupholders and a small storage pocket (think Kindle-size) and there are storage bins in each door.

The boot capacity is a decent 500L and the floor can be adjusted to two heights, one offering a level loading space. There is also a frunk storage of 58L for any cables or random bits you don't use often. Under the boot floor there is also enough room for cables and the tyre repair kit. The powered tailgate can be access via your keyfob as well.

For a flagship grade, I would have expected a few extra amenities in the rear, like climate control and sunshades but it does have directional air vents, reading lights and a USB-A and C port.

The Sealion 7 is being offered in only two grades, the base Premium and the flagship Performance that we're testing for this review.

There are only four points of difference between the two grades. The Premium isn't all-wheel drive and doesn't include heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel or dual electric motors like the Performance gets. That creates a $9K price hike to jump into the top-spec grade, bringing it to $63,990 before on-road costs.

It might be starting to sound expensive but it's still more affordable than most of its main rivals. This is because the Cupra Tavascan VZ is priced from $74,490 MRSP and the outgoing pre-update Tesla Model Y Performance comes in at $82,900 MSRP.

What do you get in the Sealion 7 Performance? A lot, it seems. Standard equipment includes electric front seats with heat and ventilation functions, adjustable under-thigh and lumbar supports, panoramic fixed sunroof and leather upholstery, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with mounted controls.

Technology looks top-notch with a crystal clear 360-degree view camera system, a rotating 15.6-inch multimedia system, 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, coloured head-up display, dual-zone climate control, two USB-A and -C ports, 12-volt socket, V2L capability (via adapter), wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, over-the-air updates, and satellite navigation.

There's also keyless entry and start, powered tailgate, BYD digital key (via smartphone app), tyre repair kit, rain-sensing wipers, dusk-sensing LED headlights and soundproof double glazed glass on both the windshield and front windows.

The 408 GT is a front-wheel drive that has an eight-speed auto transmission and is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine and an 81kW electric motor, which produce combined outputs of 165kW/360Nm. It can do a 0-100km/h sprint in 7.8 seconds. 

The switch between the electric and petrol components isn’t always seamless and you can feel some shudders as it flips between them at lower speeds but the power feels adequate for everyday driving.

The Performance is all-wheel drive and is fully electric with dual motors, a squirrel cage induction motor located at the front and a permanent magnet synchronous motor at the rear. Together they produce up to 390kW of power and 690Nm of torque.

This gives the flagship grade a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.5 seconds. There’s obviously ample power to be had here which will delight EV fans who like that tummy-falling sensation when accelerating.

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 1.5L/100km but that’s if you were recharging the car every time the electric range dropped out.

My real-world consumption sat at 5.5L after a mix of open-road and urban driving. I only charge it every other day as that’s realistic for my family life but like all plug-ins - you will get the best efficiency if you charge it regularly.

The 408 GT has a Type 2 charging port and a small 12.4kWh lithium-ion battery that can accept up to 3.7kW of power. You get up to 60km of pure electric driving range (but I only saw a top of 38km available) and on a domestic socket, you can go from zero to 100 per cent in around six hours.

On a 7kW or 11kW AC power charger, that drops to three and a half hours. So, it’s a tad slow to charge but worth it if you can leave your car on charge overnight.

The Sealion 7 Performance has a blade battery with a large 82.56kWh capacity which supports a 456km WLTP driving range. This isn’t terrible for city drivers but a regional driver will likely want a longer range. BYD includes a portable charging cable with the model.

Charging is sorted via a Type 2 CCS charging port which accepts up to 11kW on an AC charger and up to 150kW on a DC charger. On a 150kW DC charger, you can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 32 minutes and that increases to more than eight hours on an 11kW AC charger. All of the figures are quite good and help with the general day-to-day convenience.

The official energy consumption figure is 20.4 kWh per 100km but after doing a healthy mix of open-road driving and city stuff, my average has popped out at 19.1kWh. I reckon it's a solid result for a ‘performance’ grade but I didn’t find the regenerative braking to be particularly strong on this model.

The 408 GT has more than enough power to be a comfortable open-roader. You can keep your speed consistent on hills and it has enough gumption to cross traffic quickly in an urban environment.

Steering is responsive and the car is easy to manoeuvre in close quarters but the lane-keeping aid does severe corrections, so have your wits about you when you’re on the go because it can be a fright when the wheel starts fighting you.

With the ride comfort, there can be vibrations through the seats and steering wheel depending on the road surface and you’ll know about it when you hit a bump. It’s okay enough to not be classed as rough but it’s not as refined as you'd hope.

Despite the narrow rear window, the visibility is actually very good and it’s easy enough to park but the 180-degree camera system needs work.

You'll end up using the straight reversing camera because you need to ‘drive’ over the space for an image to pop up for the '180-degree' view and by the time it does, you’ve parked anyway!

The Performance grade offers plenty of power that is delivered wickedly quick without feeling overwhelming when you have to accelerate. You still feel in control, which is very important when you have outputs like this does.

The steering is responsive and light enough for quick lane changes. The general on-road handling is quite refined but there is more roll in corners than you’d expect and this is the only time the power can make the handling feel a tad wobbly.

Surprisingly, there isn't a one-pedal function and the regen braking isn’t particularly strong. It’s difficult to ‘creep’ forward in this in stop/start traffic where it can feel a bit jerky at times, so it handles best on the open road.

Visibility is mostly good but the rear window is narrow and a digital rear-view mirror would have been welcomed in this model. Suspension is sports-firm but forgiving over bigger bumps. 

The 360-degree view camera and surrounding sensors makes this super easy to park and honestly, you shouldn’t have any trouble manoeuvring the Sealion 7.

The new Sealion 7 has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing done in 2025 and scored well across its individual assessment criteria, scoring 87 per cent for adult protection and 93 per cent for child protection, respectively.

The Sealion 7 features nine airbags, including side chest airbags for both rows but it’s common to see these just on the front, so this is excellent. 

When it comes to standard safety equipment, it's almost a case of what doesn't it have? Some stand-out features include front and rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot view monitor (which pops a video feed of your left blind spot onto the multimedia display) and child detection alert.

Other standard features include lane keeping aid, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, rear collision warning, driver attention monitoring, 360-degree view camera system, and multiple parking sensors.

The autonomous emergency braking has car, pedestrian, motorcyclist and cyclist detection. For pedestrian, motorcyclist and cyclist detection, it is operational from 8.0 to 80km/h. For car detection, it is operational between 4.0 to 150km/h.

There are ISOFIX child seat mounts and three top-tether anchor points and the rear row is wide enough to accommodate three child seats side by side.

The 408 comes with a usual warranty term of five-years/unlimited km and the battery is covered by an eight-year or up to 160,000km warranty.

You can pre-purchase three, four, or five-years worth of services, which all work out to be cheaper than the pay-as-you-go option. It costs $1200 (three-years), $1700 (four-years), and $2000 for the five-year plan.

On the five-year plan, services average $400, which is reasonable for the class. Servicing intervals are also good at every 12 months/15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The Sealion 7 is covered by a six-year/150,000km warranty which is good for the class. The battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty which is a normal term.

The Sealion 7 gets a 10-year capped price servicing but it’s expensive compared to some of its peers at $4157.

Servicing intervals are spaced at every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever occurs first.