BYD: The Shark 6 will be the best-selling vehicle in Oz
Unprecedented demand for new PHEV ute forces BYD to order more vehicles for Christmas deliveriesBYD Australia is confident the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute can top the sales charts and outsell both the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.
The Chinese brand would need to shift roughly 5000 units a month in order to pull off the coup, something the defiant Toyota RAV4 is achieving with ease at the moment.
But BYD executives are brimming with confidence given the “unprecedented” demand for the Australia’s first PHEV pick-up which saw the first 2000-unit allocation depleted within 24 hours.
Speaking to carsales at this week’s media launch of the Shark 6 in Broken Hill, EVDirect chief executive David Smitherman said the company had already told its Chinese factory to ship over an extra 1000 units and could soon be asking for more.
BYD Asia Pacific auto sales general manager Liu Xueliang was then asked how many Shark 6s could be supplied to Australia.
“The more you want, the more you can have,” he said. “We don’t have any limit for that.”
The extravagant launch at Mount Gipps Station near Broken Hill (NSW) was livestreamed internationally, with events also held at BYD stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Adelaide and Perth.
It also included a performance from iconic Aussie singer Daryl Braithwaite, in front of star guests like Olympian Caroline Buchanan, AFL players Liam Baker and Kamdyn McIntosh, social media personality Lily Brown and The Inspired Unemployed’s Dom Littrich, Bill King, and Liam Moore.
“We knew the market was wanting a vehicle of this calibre, but to see so many orders so quickly has taken us by surprise,” EVDirect managing director Luke Todd said.
“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.”
Todd added the Shark 6 is a “highly capable off-roader, has a luxurious SUV cabin and handles like a sports car”.
“That’s why this ute is already taking Australia by storm.
“It is simply in a different league to anything on the market, and at the price of $57,900 (plus on-road costs) the value for money speaks for itself.”
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