BYD Mako revealed as smaller car-based ute 

BYD has shown pre-production versions of its Mako ute to media in Brazil ahead of a launch late this year, and BYD Australia has confirmed it is still weighing up whether the smaller car-based model has a business case here.

The Mako is BYD’s first monocoque ute and slots beneath the ladder-frame Shark 6, a model carsales

Measuring about 4.8m long on a 2.9m wheelbase, the Mako is considerably smaller than the 5.46m Shark 6 and lines up against the Fiat Toro, Renault Oroch and Ram Rampage. The Volkswagen Tukan and a Toyota Corolla Cross-based ute are due in the same segment.

Styling is a mix of existing parts. The headlights, bonnet and front doors are said to come from the pre-facelift Sealion 6 – sold in Brazil as the Song Plus – while the rear door frames are lifted from the Sealion 5, with a tailgate treatment patterned after the Shark 6. Suspension is MacPherson strut at the front and independent multi-link at the rear.

Outputs remain unconfirmed and the numbers have moved. Earlier reporting pointed to a flex-fuel plug-in hybrid system making around 175kW with close to 100km of electric range. The Mako shares the Sealion 5’s naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol-hybrid set-up, good for a combined 161kW and 300Nm, drawing on either a 13.1-kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 18.3kWh battery.

Crucially for Brazil, the drivetrain is flex-fuel compatible and will run ethanol blends up to 100 per cent. Brazilian outlet Quatro Rodas reported BYD has favoured rear seat space over tray capacity, with the bed thought to hold about 1000L and carry roughly 750kg – well short of the one-tonne payload Australian trade buyers treat as a baseline.

Asked about local prospects, a BYD Australia spokesperson said the brand was “pretty happy” with its current ute range following the recent arrival of the Shark 6 Dynamic Cab Chassis and 2.0-litre Performance variants, but stopped short of ruling the Mako out, adding it continually assesses whether a new model would fill a gap and stack up commercially.

That is not the only pointer to a local version. European patent filings previously revealed the Mako is expected to be exported under the Shark 5 name, with a plug-in hybrid system of around 160kW and up to 90km of electric range, and higher-output versions potentially topping 200kW. Australia was flagged at the time as a likely target market.

Brazilian production will run out of BYD’s Camaçari plant in Bahia, with pricing reported between 200,000 and 220,000 reais ($A54,000 to $A59,000).

Local appetite for electrified utes is not in question – the Shark 6 racked up more than 18,000 sales in 2025 and has held a spot among the top-selling 4x4 utes through 2026. Whether a smaller monocoque ute with a sub-one-tonne payload can find the same audience is the harder question, and BYD Australia has yet to answer it.