BYD Sealion 6 to get local suspension updates

Australia’s best-selling plug-in hybrid EV, the 2024 BYD Sealion 6, will soon be better to drive thanks to a new local chassis tuning program.

The announcement comes in response to criticism of the way the medium SUV deals with local road conditions and reinforces how quickly Chinese brands, like BYD, can adapt to consumer demand, something that can take years for more established rivals.

“There’s improvements coming (for the Sealion 6),” EV Direct CEO David Smitherman said.

“BYD is seeing Australia as a really great market to get feedback on and to really mature as an export brand.

It’s understood local testing and development has already taken place using a mix of BYD and local engineers.

“The great thing is they’re able to rapidly deploy those improvements and they really take them seriously,” Smitherman added.

Priced from $48,990 plus on-road costs, the Sealion 6 has quickly established itself as a serious force in the mid-sized SUV market.

While the circa-1000 sales a month is well behind the dominant Toyota RAV4, it still gives BYD around five per cent of the sub-$60k medium SUV market and means the Sealion 6 has usurped the Mitsubishi Outlander as Australia’s favourite PHEV.

BYD registered 1111 Sealion 6s in September compared to 743 Outlander PHEVs, according to the latest VFacts figures collated and released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

While the Outlander PHEV is ahead on full year sales – 6382 YTD vs 3207 – the BYD’s more affordable price point appears to be attracting buyers.

And Smitherman believes last month’s announcement of a five-star ANCAP safety rating will see sales swell further as fleets and governments add it to their shopping lists.

With the Federal Government’s fringe benefits tax exemption still applying to plug-in hybrids until April 2025 there’s also still a financial incentive for salaried employees to consider PHEVs over regular hybrids.

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