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The Chinese carmaker says it expects to start deliveries of Australia's first plug-in hybrid ute in late January 2025.
Electric Cars
BYD has received almost 4000 orders for its Shark 6 dual-cab ute – the first plug-in hybrid ute to launch in Australia – since it opened orders at the end of October 2024.
The Chinese carmaker said deliveries of the PHEV ute are expected to start in late January 2025, after previously expectations within December.
David Smitherman, the CEO of EVDirect – BYD’s Australian distributor – said, “We knew there was a very strong appetite for Shark in Australia, but the response has been nothing short of exceptional.”
“We’re seeing the true impact of this momentum both in sales and enquiries, and [we] are confident the Shark will be a staple on Aussie roads as of next year,” Smitherman added.
“We knew that market was wanting a vehicle of this calibre but to see so many orders so quickly has taken us by surprise,” Luke Todd, EVDirect’s managing director, previously said in a media statement.
“What gives me even more confidence that the Shark 6 will end up being the number one vehicle sold in Australia is that we haven’t even started test drives. Once people drive the Shark 6, they will love it even more,” he added.
The BYD Shark 6 is priced at $57,900 before on-road costs, placing it among mid-tier trims of other popular dual-cab utes like the Ford Ranger XLS Double Cab (from $57,630 before on-road costs), Toyota HiLux SR Double Cab with 48-volt mid-hybrid tech (from $54,130) and Isuzu D-Max LS-M crew cab (from $55,800).
If the Shark 6 were to live up to Todd's claims, it would currently need to sell at least 4500 units a month over a full calendar year to beat the Ford Ranger, the best-selling car in Australia in the 12 months leading up to October 2024.
According to the latest VFACTS data, Ford has sold 53,119 Ranger units from October 2023 to October 2024, with the Toyota HiLux ranking third (46,594) and the Isuzu D-Max at fourth (25,644).
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Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
