BYD Shark 6 racks up nearly 4000 sales in first month

The order books have been open for barely a month, but the plug-in hybrid BYD Shark 6 has already hit the ground running.

Since retail pricing for the electrified ute was announced at $57,900 at the end of October, the petrol-electric dual-cab has seen around 4000 orders placed in Australia.

That’s impressive for two reasons: firstly, it’s a strong showing not only for a brand that’s so young in the market (BYD only started selling cars in Australia in 2022), but also for the brand’s first-ever dual-cab utility. Secondly, the Shark 6 is the first plug-in hybrid ute to enter the Australian market – is its strong reception a sign that Aussie ute buyers are more open-minded about new-energy powertrains than first thought?

Deliveries aren’t due to commence until early 2025, so the bulk of orders for the Shark 6 so far are ones that have been placed without a test drive. Around half of sales to-date were lodged in the first 24 hours after the order books opened as well, with BYD taking deposits on more than 2000 Shark 6s in its first day - a number that probably would have been higher had its website not crashed due to overwhelming traffic.

How does that kind of volume compare to other utes? If we focus on 4x4 models (the BYD Shark 6 is only available in a dual-motor 4WD configuration), there are only two models that are reliably at or above 4000 sales each month – the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux. Other rivals like the Mitsubishi Triton, Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Triton typically sell between 1000-2500 units per month, but the real question is whether the Shark 6 can sustain this inertia in the long term and secure a solid - and enduring - third place position in the ute sales ranking.

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Two things may get in the way of that: supply, and demand. With the Shark 6 being built in China and enjoying the massive industrial support on offer in that country, it’s not unreasonable to expect that ensuring adequate supply won’t be a problem for BYD.

However, the company has so far only confirmed an initial allocation of 2000 cars, with potentially 1000 more in the first shipment to help satisfy initial demand. With all 3000 of those now having customer names against them, BYD looks to be facing a supply challenge for the Shark 6 if all of those refundable deposits turn into sales, and the next month of pre-orders delivers another 3000-4000 deposits.

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Demand may be challenging in the long-term as well – vehicles with a strong new-technology appeal normally experience very strong demand in the pre-launch and launch phases, but once that latent demand is satisfied sales volumes quickly settle to a fraction of the initial amount. Another factor can’t be ignored here either – competition. In the second half of 2025 Ford will launch the Ranger PHEV into Australia, and it’s highly likely that buyers looking for a plug-in hybrid ute – whether private or commercial – may be holding off until that model arrives.

There will also be more competition from other Chinese brands as well, with the GWM Cannon Alpha Hi4 T plug-in set to go on sale locally in the first half of the year. The BYD Shark 6 might have the PHEV ute market all to itself right now, but that first-mover advantage won’t last long.

It’s not hard to understand the Shark 6’s appeal, though. With 321kW and 650Nm of combined output from its dual electric motors and 29.58kWh lithium-ion battery, the Shark 6 is one of the torquiest and most powerful utes on the market. With a 1.5L turbo petrol engine able to fire up when the Shark 6’s 100km EV-only range is depleted, the BYD can run for around 800km in total as a hybrid before needing recharging or refueling.

On the other side of the coin, its maximum towing capacity is only 2500kg in a segment where 3500kg is the new norm – but clearly that’s not a huge concern for at least 4000 punters.