2024-25 Wheels Car of the Year Contender: BYD SEALION 6

Let’s start with the good stuff. After establishing a beachhead with the popular Atto 3 small SUV and then consolidating its market share with a host of other electric models, the Sealion 6 mid-size SUV is BYD’s first proper shot at nabbing some serious sales volume in Australia. As a rival for the Toyota RAV4, it’s playing in one of Australia’s most popular segments, and in a brochure or on the showroom floor, it presents beautifully.

The exterior design is generically handsome, the cabin offers an impressive amount of room and high levels of standard equipment, and the technology offering is also suitably high-tech thanks to the inclusion of BYD’s large 15.6-inch touchscreen which can rotate through 180 degrees.

Then there’s the price. At $48,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level Dynamic or $52,990 for the all-wheel-drive Premium version we’re testing here, the Sealion 6 delivers a lot of SUV for the money.

The BYD’s value equation only gets sweeter when you consider what’s under the bonnet. In combining a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder with twin electric motors and a relatively large 18.3kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, the Sealion 6 is BYD’s first plug-in hybrid. Power and performance are healthy thanks to combined outputs of 238kW and 550Nm (the cheaper non-turbo Dynamic makes do with 160kW/300Nm) but it’s the claimed driving range of 1092km from a full battery/tank that really appeals.

The powertrain is impressively refined, too, and the handover between battery and piston propulsion is imperceptibly smooth. The system favours electric power, which lends an EV-like driving experience, and BYD claims a full battery will provide 81km of range before the petrol engine kicks in.

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Where things start to head south is through the lane-change manoeuvre during COTY testing. Tip the Sealion 6 into the first swerve and its tail will scuttle cones on the outside before swinging wildly back the other way through the change-of-direction.

Things don’t improve around the ride and handling circuit. While the front seats lack proper lateral support, it’s the vague steering and underbaked suspension that really blemish the Sealion’s scorecard.

The good news is BYD is aware of the issues and has already introduced a running change to the suspension set-up for cars currently rolling off the production line. As it stands, though, it’s clear there’s plenty of room for improvement in how the Sealion 6 drives, despite its compelling on-paper promise.

BYD Sealion 6 Specifications