BYD prioritising SUVs and utes in Australia

Australia’s BYD distributor EVDirect will prioritise adding SUVs and utes to the local lineup as the Chinese brand expands its local presence.

In response to strong demand for the Shark 6, Sealion 6 and Atto 3, EVDirect will channel resources into importing new models with high sales potential, according to CEO David Smitherman.

“The opportunity for us is that there’s so much product to choose from. My preference is ute and SUV, that’s where the big segments are in Australia,” Mr Smitherman told CarExpert.

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“And so our focus is really on that. We’ve got the Shark 6 here, the Sealion 7 will be launched in February, that’s our next vehicle.

“After that, you’ll see a continual rollout of products.”

BYD currently sells five models in Australia: the Sealion 6 and Atto 3 SUVs, Shark 6 ute, Seal sedan, and Dolphin hatch.

In China, the brand has a wide range of vehicles including sedans, hatchbacks, people movers and SUVs.

Collectively, BYD has delivered over 7000 examples of the Atto 3 and Sealion 6 to customers over the first nine months of this year, while the Seal and Dolphin generated 5308 and 1740 sales respectively.

Shark 6 ute orders opened last Tuesday night to overwhelming demand – the initial allocation of 2000 units sold out within 24 hours, prompting EVDirect to order a further 1000 cars for distribution in the early months of 2025.

EVDirect has previously said it aims to sell 25,000 vehicles in Australia this year, followed by 50,000 vehicles in 2025.

It’ll have another new vehicle in February 2025 with the Australian launch of the BYD Sealion 7 mid-sized electric SUV, a rival to the Tesla Model Y – Australia’s best-selling EV.

Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD’s Asia Pacific sales division, also confirmed that the brand is eyeing utes to sit alongside the Shark 6 in Australian showrooms.

“The BYD Shark 6 is the first ute we’re launching in Australia, but it definitely won’t be the last one,” said Mr Liu.

“We will see how the Shark 6 is performing in the market and what feedback our customers are providing us. Then we will continue optimising and providing more products.”

BYD doesn’t currently have any other utes in its global portfolio, with the Shark 6 being its first.

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