"Imminent" BYD Seal 6 could revive wagon market

BYD is hoping to reboot the affordable passenger wagon segment when it launches the Seal 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) line-up into Australia within months.

To sell alongside the battery electric Seal sedan, the Seal 6 will also come as a sedan.

But it’s the wagon that could be the surprise and BYD thinks is has the potential to be the bigger seller.

“I actually think that the wagon will outsell the sedan. I hope it does,” predicted BYD Australia head of product Sajid Hasan.

As things stand with the demise of the Mazda6, the only low-riding family-sized wagon left on-sale in Australia under $50,000 (before on-road costs) is the Skoda Octavia.

The sedan will enter a segment dominated by the Toyota Camry and the Tesla Model 3, but there is increasing activity including the recent arrival of the Kia EV4 and the Mazda 6e on the way.

Both sedan and wagon Seal 6 will come to Australia pencilled in to be predominantly fleet, rental and ride share rivals for the Camry, as part of BYD’s drive to grow fleet sales and challenge for a top three berth in Australia.

But there is a belief the wagon has more chance of also catching on with a private audience.

“I think with the wagon you will have maybe more considerers from the SUV segments and they field a larger pool of customers,” said Hasan.

“You would also be picking up current wagon customers, whereas the sedan, you're probably more limited to just the sedan customers.

“You see a lot of private customers that choose a wagon over an SUV because they maybe put bike racks on, and it's easier to reach that bike as opposed to an SUV. Then having the wagon body type still provides that large cargo space.”

The Seal 6 has been spotted testing in Australia this year and while it’s known as the Seal 06 in China, the 0 has been dropped from its name Down Under, according to its Australian homologation certification.

The certification also shows the Seal 6 will be offered in two sedan and two Touring (wagon) specifications, the former of which measures up at 4840mm long, 1875mm wide, 1495mm high and has a wheelbase of 2790mm.

The wagon varies only in its 1505mm height.

Powered by the fifth generation DM-i powertrain, the Seal 6 will come with choice of 130kW and 163kW combined outputs.

A 70kW 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated engine is standard across the range combines with a choice of two different e-motors and battery packs.

The Seal 6 is expected to come with cut-throat pricing, most likely starting in the low $40,000 range.

“There's not much [choice] at that price point,” said Hasan.

While unwilling to say when it will arrive in Australia, the exec admitted the Seal 6’s launch was “imminent”, which, in auto industry terms, suggests it could be in showrooms by mid-2026.

BYD is planning to launch up to eight new models in 2026, although four of them – the Atto 1 and Atto 2 EVs and the Sealion 5 and Sealion 8 PHEVs are already on-sale.

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