BYD Shark 6 PHEV ute on sale next month

The 2025 BYD Shark 6 goes on sale in Australia within weeks — and it’ll come with an Aussie twang and a range of locally developed accessories.

On sale from late October 2024, the BYD Shark 6 has had a naming upgrade (formerly just the Shark) and will become the first plug-in hybrid ute on Australian roads, following an extensive local development program on the island continent.

The boldly styled four-door dual-cab ute has been extensively tested and developed in Australia to prepare it for life on some of the world’s harshest roads — and to help it compete against highly regarded rivals such as the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.

The Shark 6 hybrid pick-up truck will narrowly beat the upcoming Ford Ranger PHEV to market, giving it bragging rights as the first plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) ute to hit the market.

Speaking in China ahead of a media drive of the hotly anticipated new model, the CEO of BYD importer EV Direct, David Smitherman, says there has been enormous interest in the Shark.

“Early expressions of interest have exceeded our expectations,” he said. “We’re really excited about what is shaping up to be a great opportunity for Australians to get behind the wheel of a plug-in hybrid ute.”

He says first deliveries are due in December, allowing early buyers to take advantage of the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption that applies to EVs and plug-in hybrids priced below the luxury car tax threshold. The PHEV tax break is due to cease on April 1, 2025, while battery electric vehicles can still take advantage of it until 2027.

Crucially, the Shark 6 has also undergone more than 12 months of local testing and development, culminating in revisions to suspension and dynamics designed to prepare it for Australian roads and driving preferences.

“We’ve been testing the vehicle all over Australia for well over a year and refining it to meet Australian driving conditions in a variety of climates — hot, cold, wet, dry, outback,” he said.

BYD will also have an extensive range of accessories, including a bullbar, many of which have been locally developed.

While it’s been engineered for off-road and harsh driving conditions, there’s also the promise of big fuel savings.

A 29.5kWh battery is claimed to give the Shark 6 about 80km of electric-only driving range, which is almost double the circa-45km of the upcoming Ranger PHEV.

Smitherman emphasises that, as with the Sealion 6, the Shark 6 prioritises its electric drive system to provide more of an EV driving experience.

That’s different from other plug-in hybrids on the market, which typically have modest outputs when running in EV mode, thereby relying on their petrol engines for decent performance.

The 2025 BYD Shark 6 uses two electric motors — one on the front axle, one on the rear — and backs them up with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

While final specifications are still to be confirmed, it’s expected to produce a combined 321kW of power, about double that of many top-selling utes.

Acceleration to 100km/h is said to take less than six seconds, giving the Shark 6 a significant performance advantage over predominantly turbo-diesel-powered rivals.

However, the Shark 6 will not match the 3.5-tonne towing capacity that most utes offer.

There’s another big unknown that will be saved for the October 29 Australian launch: pricing.

Smitherman says negotiations are still under way and that all details — including specifications — will be finalised in late October.

“As always, we’ll be very competitively priced… our pricing needs to be competitive,” said Smitherman, pointing to the pricing of the Sealion 6.

That SUV starts from $48,990 plus on-road costs, which is commensurate with mid-grade versions of big-selling mid-sized SUVs such as the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, and Hyundai Tucson.

All of which has Smitherman anticipating big things for the Shark 6 from a sales perspective.

While he concedes it’s unlikely to initially outsell the Hilux and Ranger — each of which typically sells upwards of 50,000 units annually — he believes it could be BYD’s top-selling vehicle.

That would suggest something like 15,000 sales annually, possibly more.

And there’s clear appeal for a ute with much lower fuel consumption than the circa-8-litres-per-100km of the big players — and one that can be driven partially on electricity.

“We’ve had huge interest from fleets and governments across the country,” said Smitherman, who says environmental and sustainability targets are increasingly influencing vehicle purchasing decisions.

Stay tuned for more details on the 2025 BYD Shark.

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