2025 BYD Shark 6 en route to Oz

The first Australian customer deliveries of the 2025 BYD Shark 6 dual-cab ute have been locked in for January, following the loading of the first shipment of the disruptive model on a car carrier in China.

The first shipment of vehicles shown in the photo are understood to be demonstration models but a second shipment of around 2500 units will leave China shortly and will fill most of Australia’s initial order bank in late January.

BYD was hoping for a Christmas miracle with December deliveries for the thousands of Aussies who have already ordered one of the dual-cab utes, but the January arrival is a case of ‘better late than never’.

The BYD Shark 6 has generated colossal interest among Aussie buyers following positive reviews and testing by the automotive media.

Priced from $57,900 plus on-road costs, BYD insists the Shark 6 will eventually become Australia’s best-selling vehicle, eclipsing the popularity of the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

BYD would need to sell more than 5000 units per month to do so. Some 2000 orders were placed in the first 24 hours after the order books opened and that rose to 4000 orders in late November.

The Shark 6 is propelled primarily by two electric motors and a small turbo-petrol engine, but the petrol engine chiefly serves as a generator. One of the most appealing aspects of the vehicle is its sub-$60K price, which is competitive with dual-cab rivals like the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton and Isuzu D-MAX.

However, its towing capacity is below average in this class, at 2500kg – all those vehicles listed above can tow up to 3500kg.

Nevertheless, with a generous equipment list encompassing LED headlights, soft open-and-close tailgate, vehicle to load (V2L) capability with four household power plugs and a big 15.6-inch central touchscreen, the Shark 6 has certainly attracted the attention of local ute buyers.

It can be plugged in to recharge its 29.5kWh (LPF) lithium-ion battery pack but petrol will be its primary fuel source for many owners.

Combined power output is an eye-popping 321kW and 650Nm, which gives it a Ranger Raptor-besting 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.7 seconds.

It also has a claimed EV-only cruising range of around 100km.

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