Could the BYD Shark 6 shoot up the sales charts to claim the number one spot from the Ford Ranger? One local executive thinks so.
BYD’s Australian distributor, EVDirect has made a massive claim that the Shark 6 will be the best-selling car in the country, surpassing established leaders the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max.
EVDirect managing director Luke Todd was clear in his expectations for the Shark 6, which order books opened for on Tuesday evening and racked up more than 2000 purchases in the first 24 hours.
“We knew the market was wanting a vehicle of this calibre but to see so many orders so quickly has taken us by surprise,” he 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.”
Drive understands that the first shipment of Shark 6 vehicles will arrive in December, and if all 2000 confirmed vehicles can be registered in the month, the new BYD model has a good shot of cracking the top 10.
For reference, based on September VFACTS sales data, 2000 units of the Shark 6 would place the BYD ute in eighth place ahead of the Hyundai Tucson (1766 sales), Mazda CX-5 (1799) and Mazda CX-3 (1982), but only slightly behind the Kia Sportage (2055).
However, Drive understands EVDirect will fast-track another 1000 units to Australia satiate demand, and that supply will not be an issue for the brand going forward.
EVDirect CEO David Smitherman told Drive earlier this year that he believes the company will not be “supply-constrained on this vehicle” and that Australia could be the leading market for the Shark 6, outpacing South America.
However, to reach the number one position in Australia, BYD will need to sell more than 5300 units of the Shark 6 per month for the calendar year, taking its annual total to beyond 63,000 units.
Looking at 2023’s VFACTS sales data, the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Isuzu D-Max took out the top three spots on 63,356, 61,111, and 31,202 sales respectively.
If the Shark 6 can achieve Todd’s stated goal, it would also be more popular than the Toyota RAV4, Tesla Model Y, and Hyundai i30.
Key to its sales success, however, will be its reception by the fleet market, which makes up nearly 73 per cent of the Ranger sales based on 2023 data.
Across both 4×2 and 4×4 variants of the Ranger last year, 46,180 units out of the 63,356 total were to government, fleet, and rental buyers, leaving 17,176 units bought by private customers.
BYD also only has a single 4×4 dual-cab model in its line-up, at least for now, while rivals in the ‘one-tonne’ segment also field more affordable 4×2 variants to broaden their appeal.
However, BYD has confirmed more versions of the Shark 6 are coming, including one with a 3500kg braked towing capacity, and likely a more affordable version.
Regardless, the current version of the Shark 6 now on sale is a single Premium grade variant priced at $57,900 before on-road costs, putting it in line with low- and mid-tier rivals from the likes of Toyota, Ford, Isuzu, Nissan, and Mitsubishi.
However, the BYD Shark 6 is also the first plug-in hybrid ute available in Australia, and teams a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with dual electric motors and a 29.6kWh battery.
BYD claims a total system output of 321kW/650Nm – also making the Shark 6 the most potent model in its class.
The quoted all-electric driving range in the Shark 6 is up to 100km, while a combined petrol-electric hybrid range is stated at around 800km.
Crucially though, EVDirect has not set a timeframe on when they expect the Shark 6 to rise to surpass the Ranger, HiLux and others.
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