Car news, 3rd March ’25: Kia electric car offensive, quirky Cybertruck-like ute confirmed, VW delivers on EV promise and BYD Shark 6 gets top safety marks

It’s hard to believe but it’s barely been more than a year since the BYD Shark 6 landed in Australia and re-wrote the rulebook on what counts as ‘utility’ Just over a year since it flipped the ute segment on its head, the Shark 6 adds a Performance trim to address its two biggest pitfalls: off-roading and towing.

A petrol-electric plug-in hybrid predator has entered the diesel-infested waters of the dual-cab ute segment, and current market form suggests the BYD Is BYD’s plug-in hybrid ute a segment game-changer? Our first full test suggests it's difficult to consider it anything less.

Talk about a baptism of fire, literally being handed the keys to the new 2025 BYD Shark 6 on a muddy track in the NSW Blue Mountains. Yep, I put the BYD’s Will the Shark 6 ute from BYD sink or swim when it comes to off-road driving? We hit the tracks to find out if it's a serious contender or a hyped up pretender.

Shark. It’s a bold and intimidating name. My mind immediately travels to Spielberg’s Jaws from 1975, a film that frightened generations from venturing BYD’s debut 4x4 pickup is also the first plug-in hybrid ute offered in Australia. And the petrol-electric attributes it brings could upset diesel stalwart rivals

The phenomenon of a front-wheel-drive car switching to rear-wheel drive has been a rare occurrence over the past 60 years – starting with the FWD Triumph You wouldn’t know from looking at it but this Atto 3’s mildly updated appearance hides a dramatic uplift in electric architecture, chassis capability, performance, range and value

Despite its conservative styling and its image as yet another cookie-cutter Chinese EV, the BYD Atto 2 has so far impressed us in review with its painless BYD continues its quest to become the Chinese Toyota by launching Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid – the Atto 2 DM-i, offering 90km of electric-only range for under $30K.

Stylish plug-in wagon punches above its weight for its seductive $40K price point

The BYD Sealion 5 sets a new benchmark for PHEV affordability in Australia starting at $33,990 before on-road costs at a time when buyers are increasingly Eye-catching pricing is BYD’s forte, but has the new plug-in hybrid Sealion 5 finally pushed this brand to its limits?

In the last decade of automotive upheaval, one truth has emerged: the bigger the vehicle, the harder it is to electrify. Bigger vehicles require bigger

The first thing you need to know about the new BYD Atto 2 is that it is — for now at least — Australia’s cheapest electric SUV. That’s going to be the big The most affordable electric SUV in Australia is actually quite good. So what’s the catch?

You’d have to live under a rock to not have noticed the surge of BYD-branded vehicles present on Australian roads. The Xi’an, China-based marque only Sharp pricing, generous specification, handsome styling and a few touches of genuine luxury have catapulted the Sealion 7 to success — but it isn’t perfect

It’s been more than three years since China’s BYD brand debuted its ‘Build Your Dreams’ electric vehicle in Australia, the Atto 3 small SUV. And during BYD’s original ‘Build Your Dreams’ model in Australia, the Atto 3 small electric SUV, remains an interesting car that drives better than its looks imply

The big issue for plug-in hybrids from legacy brands such as Mitsubishi’s Outlanders and Ford’s defunct Escape PHEV was always price. You’d be paying Making plug-in hybrids even cheaper? The BYD Sealion 5 could arrive and change the game.

When it comes to astronomical rises, there are few car brands that have achieved as much success in a short time as BYD. Its first product, the Atto 3 The Atto 2 is a cheap, cheerful electric SUV that’s showing early promise before arriving in Australia.

BYD is on a mission in Australia – driven by a desire to expand its model range and achieve more than 40,000 sales annually in this market – and the chief New electric mid-sized crossover SUV aims to outdo Tesla Model Y in style and equipment while undercutting it in price. But is the Sealion 7 good enough?

Twelve months ago, if you had asked me what budget electric car to buy, I happily would have told you to drop everything and buy an MG4. In 2023, I The BYD Dolphin might have the MG4 on outright price, but can the Build Your Dreams hatchback keep up with the MG’s excellent dynamics?

Mitsubishi is preparing to release a hybrid version of the Triton ute in the next couple of years, and hands-on testing has seen engineers lock in their While Mitsubishi engineers like the idea of electric AWD systems, the urgent need to launch a Triton hybrid meant simpler ‘P2’ hybrid was chosen for Triton

Australian’s have always had a passion for utes, we invented them afterall. So it comes as no surprise to hear BYD have just sold more than 12,000 of its

BYD has reported its best sales month on record in Australia, with an astounding 6.7 per cent market share recorded for June 2025. The brand registered Record month for Chinese automaker BYD spearheaded by PHEV and EV offerings

Four utes filled June’s top five best-selling new vehicles, as the Australia market enjoyed a big bump from widespread end-of-financial-year deals. Ford Ranger top and BYD Shark in top five as utes dominate best-selling vehicles in strong June market

Australia’s new-car sales results are in for yet another record-setting March, with 111,617 sales reported through the Federal Chamber of Automobile New-car market shows signs of resilience. Incentive-driven? Probably, with plug-in hybrids having a particularly big March

New-car sales results are in for February and the cracks are starting to show in the market. Data provided by the federal chamber of automobile

Thanks for joining us this Thursday 31 October 2024. Notably in car news today: V6 not looking likely for Kia Tasman ute, while the BYD Shark 6 has been In car news: Kia Tasman V6 unlikely in face of NVES, BYD Shark 6 priced at $57,990 plus on-road costs.

BYD has confirmed it’s unlikely it will introduce an SUV version of the Shark 6 dual-cab ute as it could risk compromising its emerging Denza sibling The Shark 6 range is set to expand in Australia following its roaring sales success, but a wagon body style appears unlikely to eventuate

BYD Australia says its wildly successful Shark 6 range “will expand further”, with an extreme off-road grade and a fully electric variant on the cards. Disappointed with the limited upgrades of the Shark 6 Performance? BYD says a fully featured ‘ultimate’ variant is on the way

BYD Australia has confirmed its Shark 6 plug-in hybrid dual cab will soon gain a new ‘Crawl Mode’ to boost the ute’s low-speed off-road ability. The A much-needed ‘Crawl Mode’ has been added to the BYD Shark 6’s off-road arsenal, with the software update said to significantly improve technical capability

Australia’s favourite plug-in hybrid dual-cab just got a whole lot more appealing. BYD has confirmed its Shark 6 ute will expand to three distinct grades, Popular BYD Shark 6 hybrid now offers three distinct grades, headlined by features such as 3500kg braked towing capacity, and more

Chery Australia has today revealed its ‘KP31’ dual cab ute concept, with the prospect of two plug-in hybrid powertrains, and is set to go on sale in the China’s Chery KP31 ute concept is far from ordinary when compared to its stablemates, featuring three differentials, bold retro styling, and an all-new powertrain

Few newly launched vehicles have quickly gained popularity quite like the BYD Shark 6, which has launched into a nigh-unpenetrable ute culture, seemingly Incredible pricing and a unique twist on the dual-cab formula has made the BYD Shark 6 an incredibly popular ute – but the best could be yet to come

BYD’s most senior executive in the Asia-Pacific region has told Chasing Cars that the brand will respond to customers seeking greater off-roading Buyer feedback about the Shark 6’s off-roading limits have been heard by BYD senior management, and an update appears to be inbound for the plug-in hybrid ute

There’s no doubting the BYD Shark 6’s popularity. For a new, niche, plug-in hybrid single variant offering it is selling strongly, averaging 1500 units We imagine how BYD’s popular Shark 6 could level up

The BYD Shark 6 ute has taken Australia by storm. It was the first plug-in hybrid ute to arrive here beating the Ford Ranger and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEVs to It’s official: the ute du jour is not perfect with BYD hinting at upgrades and future variants of Shark 6 PHEV