This newly-debuted PHEV pickup from BYD is intending to top the Australian sales chart next year.
BYD looks to have a massive hit on their hands down under, as their newly-revealed Shark 6 PHEV pickup has just recently managed to accrue 2,000 orders in just 24 hours of its debut over there. In fact, the only reason why that figure wasn’t higher is because that was to be the entire initial allocation for this electrified ute for Australia.
Speaking at launch of the Shark 6 in Broken Hill, chief executive of EVDirect (BYD’s Australian distribution company) David Smitherman said that over 20,000 people have expressed an interest in this PHEV pickup. “In my 25 years in the car industry I’ve never seen interest like this in a new vehicle,” he added.
He further touted that his company had already told its Chinese factory to fast-track a shipment of an extra 1,000 units, and could soon be asking for more. The automaker has since also responded that it will be more than happy to supply as many units as can be sold in Australia, while confirming too that more variants of it will arrive to complement its sole Premium spec offered thus far.
The Shark 6 is incidentally to be the first PHEV pickup truck to land down under, with it coming ahead of the plug-in hybrid Ranger variant that has also been earmarked for launch in Oz as well. And while on the topic of the Blue Oval marque’s pickup, there is the intention for this BYD to unseat the Ford in becoming Australia’s best-selling vehicle in 2025.
Though if all goes to plan and the 2,000 pre-ordered Shark 6 pickups are registered and delivered by December of this year, BYD would actually already be able to crack the top 10 car sales ranking in Australia for that month. In fact, based on VFACTS sales data from September at least, this electrified pickup would see that this electrified pickup be the 8th best-selling car in Australia for that month.
One of the primary points of appeal with the Shark 6 is undoubtably its attractive selling price, with the sole fully-loaded double-cab Premium 4×4 variant landing over there at just A$57,900 (RM 166,000). For context here, a similarly-specced Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger is currently to command a premium of A$6,000 (RM 17,000) over the BYD.
Now aside from the low price meanwhile, the Shark 6 is also to be promising impressive efficiency from its PHEV powertrain. BYD claims that this pickup is capable of travelling up to an NEDC-rated 100 km on only the electricity stored its 29.58 kWh LFP battery pack, with it also claiming that this huge ute will sip as little as 2.0 litre/100 km when running as a hybrid with the battery charged, for a total driving distance of 800 km on a full tank and charge.
The BYD Shark 6 shares the same electrified powertrain as the Sealion 6, albeit with the 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder being mounted longitudinally instead of transversely as in the PHEV SUV. Its EV component in turn consists of an electric motor on each axle, with the combined system output currently being rated at over 430 hp and 650 Nm of torque.
Measuring in at a whopping 5,457 mm long, 1,971 mm wide, and 1,925 mm tall, the Shark is actually a massive 132 mm longer, 71 mm wider and 110 mm taller than the current (and already rather ginormous) Toyota Hilux, with a 175 mm longer wheelbase to boot at 3,260 mm.
Moving along inside, the chunky yet car-like cabin of the Shark is headlined by a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and the usual BYD rotatable central infotainment measuring 12.8-inches. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration is also to be found within too, along with a 12-inch head-up display and a 360º camera that does the Land Rover thing of offering glimpse of the terrain beneath the vehicle.
In terms of the obligatory Chinese car tech gimmick on the other hand, the headline feature time round with the Shark 6 is a karaoke function that apparently enables owners to sing along with an optional handheld microphone. Perhaps more pertinent to buyers however is for this BYD to still feature the usual plethora of active safety tech that includes adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking, with a smartphone digital key likely making that little bit easier to live with too.
