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Shipments of BYD cars to Australia will triple – to as many as 30,000 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in May and June – to meet increased demand amid high fuel prices.
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A record 30,000 BYDs will reach Australian shores in May and June – triple the usual amount – to meet a surge in demand amid the Middle East conflict’s impact on fuel prices.
The same interest boost in hybrid and electric cars pushed BYD to third place on the new-car sales charts last month, behind only Toyota and Kia, reporting a record 7217 registrations led by the electric Sealion 7 family SUV and plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute.
“In the coming months, especially in May and June, we are expecting 30,000 vehicles arriving in Australia,” BYD Asia Pacific managing director Liu Xueliang told media including Drive through a translator at the Melbourne motor show.
“We hope that by continuing the supply of our vehicles, we can make sure that consumers won't be heavily impacted by the shortage of fuel.”
The arrival of 30,000 vehicles is about triple the company’s typical arrivals, as it delivered about 5000 cars in the first two months of 2026, prior to the Middle East conflict and surge in crude oil prices from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“According to our estimation, people who [place] the order before or in April will, at the latest, receive their vehicle before the end of June,” said Liu via an interpreter.
The majority of the vehicles on board the May and June ships will be BYDs, as the Denza brand launched earlier this year with “enough” stock to meet demand, Liu said.
BYD executives advised customers who place an order in April can expect to take delivery by June 30.
“We've got pretty significant back-orders, and obviously we're expecting April, May, and June to be strong,” BYD Australia chief operating officer Stephen Collins told media.
“Seasonality is always strong,” Collins referencing the lead-up to the end of the financial year being a strong period for new-car sales, “so we're expecting that the vast majority of those vehicles will be sold to customers [by June 30].”
Later this year, BYD will look to use its car shipping vessel – which is owned by the Chinese giant, rather than the usual industry practice of paying a major shipping firm to deliver vehicles – to aid arrivals into Australia.
“As you guys know, BYD has our own RoRo [roll-on roll-off car transporter],” said Liu through the interpreter.
“So in the next half-year, we are going to use our own vessel to deliver these vehicles to the Australian market.
“… We believe that with all these joint efforts in the coming months, we are going to speed up the spread of EV launch[es] in [the] Australian market.”
Liu said BYD will prioritise vehicles for essential workers, and will keep customers in the loop on the arrival of additional vehicles.
Last month’s tally of 7217 BYD vehicle sales is a record for the brand, topped by the Sealion 7 (1970), Shark 6 (1314) and just-launched Sealion 8 plug-in hybrid seven-seat SUV (836).
Deliveries grew by 50 per cent compared to the same month last year – despite Shark 6 sales dropping by 53 per cent due to a surge in demand this time in 2025 – thanks to new releases such as the Atto 2 (572) and Atto 1 (488).
The brand is due to deliver its 100,000th car in Australia next week, after handing over 52,415 vehicles last year.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
