Hardcore BYD Shark 6 imagined as Ford Ranger Raptor, Toyota Hilux GR Sport challenger

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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 each month in Australia.  

But the brand isn’t going to rest on its laurels, vowing to broaden the Shark 6’s appeal, with a Ford Ranger Raptor and Toyota Hilux GR Sport rival likely: meet the ‘Tigershark 6’. 

There’s no confirmation on a name yet, of course, but BYD Australia and New Zealand chief operating officer Stephen Collins told Chasing Cars he is looking “at other opportunities” for the Shark 6. 

“We obviously have one grade which is selling 1500 a month, so it’s doing well, but we’re well aware that, down lower in, in more of the fleet space and even up higher, there’s other opportunities,” hinted Collins.  

A fleet-oriented cab-chassis version of the Shark 6 is widely expected, but Collins hinting at opportunities up the scale caught our eye. 

With help of digital artist Theottle, we’ve brought a hardcore Shark 6 to life. Wearing the new Outback Orange paint colour, it features a tweaked lower front bumper section incorporating red recovery hooks, steel underbody protection and low-mount LED lights.

It sits taller, with roughly a 40mm lift through a combination of inch-taller coil springs for its independent suspension and bigger diameter BF Goodrich all-terrain tyres on black 17-inch alloys. 

At the rear, there’s a silver garnish on the lower bumper section and cheeky ‘Tigershark 6’ badge on the back delineating this from the standard ute. 

It is what could be underneath that will make the difference to the Shark 6, which is currently a 325kW, all-wheel drive ute with 100km of electric-only range. It lacks locking diffs and finessed drive modes for rock crawling. 

The incoming Denza B5 and B8 use a more hardcore version of the Shark 6’s powertrain, and are built alongside the ute in China. A perfect upgrade, surely. 

Based around the same 1.5-litre turbo-petrol combustion engine, the Denza B5’s twin-motor system outputs 505kW and 760Nm while incorporating a locking rear differential, low-range via a two-speed rear axle, eight drive modes and simulated centre differential lock. 

This powertrain would take the Shark 6’s capability to the next level. 

The extra grunt, and likely increased body rigidity underneath, could also raise the Shark 6’s towing limit from 2500kg to 3500kg as well, something BYD is investigating. 

Pricing would be somewhere north of the current ute, which is $57,900 before on-road costs. We’d expect somewhere around $75,000 if this hardcore, ‘Tigershark 6’, comes to fruition.