BYD Shark 6 2025 launch review

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 into the water. With that front of mind, for an automaker to call its vehicle the Shark means a lot of things, but mostly that this new pickup means business. And it’s aggressively hunting down the competition.

BYD, the Chinese vehicle mega-producer, is being very brave. By Christmas 2024, it will have launched a new ute in Australia, one of the most competitive pickup markets in the world.

In our market, there is a lot to choose from and from a mixture of brands. And Aussie love for utes comes with  fierce brand loyal and passionate options within the vast pickup landscape.

To make things even trickier, the brand is forgetting all about turbo-diesel power and is instead going full steam ahead with what it calls its Dual Mode Offroad (DMO) plug-in hybrid system, a setup similar to the one found in BYD’s Sealion 6 PHEV SUV.

I’ve been one of the lucky Australian journalists who have been invited along for a very quick first drive of the Shark 6, as it’s formally called, on some of our local off-road trails.

As the three vehicles we drove were late-stage prototypes, our time on the bitumen was very limited, but we expect to do a more extensive and thorough Chasing Cars garage review of this new ute as soon as we can.

I’ve quickly become ‘Mr Ute’ here at Chasing Cars, and have recently driven a stack of 4×4 dual-cab utes, so I’m more than a little curious (and very excited) to see how the Shark 6 stacks up against key rivals such as the Toyota Hilux and the Ford Ranger.

Is it any good to drive? Is it durable? Is it refined? Is it comfortable?

And, is it good enough to make people buy one over the mainstays?

Well, these are the questions I’m going to try and answer here about the new BYD Shark 6 ute.

What are the Shark 6’s features and options for the price?

One of things BYD isn’t telling us just yet is the exact price of the BYD Shark 6, but importer EV Direct’s chief executive officer David Smitherman told Australian media at the first drive launch to expect the new ute to start below $68,000 locally. The exact price will be revealed on 29 October.

BYD has confirmed it will launch the Shark 6 in one high-spec grade from launch, which is set to feature specification including:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Four wheel disc brakes
• 15.6-inch rotating centre touchscreen
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
• Head-up display
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto connectivity
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Genuine leather multi-function steering wheel
• Electric, ventilated and heated front seats
• Dynaudio 12-speaker sound system
• Two USB-A and two USB-C ports
• Coil spring, double wishbone rear suspension
• LED headlights, tail lights and DRLs
• Keyless entry and start
• Wireless phone charger
• 360-degree camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Adaptive cruise control

BYD has offered a lot of value here and has covered the bases with what I see to be a very all-round, lifestyle ute package.

It can be argued that even some of the mainstay ute brands don’t offer this amount of specification for sub-$68K.

How does the Shark 6 drive?

Our first Australian drive was a short one, consisting of some light off-roading and dirt trail driving.

Jumping in and firing up the Shark 6 with its aircraft-like toggle switches feels good. The ute starts in complete silence and off we go, starting our drive from the Victorian town of Marysville, two hours from Melbourne.

BYD has broken away from the ute stable by offering the Shark 6 as a plug-in hybrid only. There will be no turbo-diesel or turbo-petrol powertrain available. It’s a bit game-changing, to be honest.

Marketed by BYD as a DMO hybrid system, this petrol-electric architecture uses a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and two electric motors, one on each axle.

Unlike some other hybrid systems, the Shark 6’s combustion engine does not physically connect to the wheels of the ute. Instead, it acts as a generator to supply power to the two electric motors.

Total system output for Shark 6 is a remarkable 321kW of power and 650Nm of torque. Being a dual-motor system, the Shark is a permanent four-wheel drive and can’t be put into a rear-wheel-drive setting like some rivals.

However, because of the control, torque and power of the electric motors, the Shark 6 also does not have a low range transfer case. Simply turn it on and it’s ready to hit the trails. I like that.

Driving the ute for the very first time, and within only the first couple of minutes, this feels like a very different ute to anything I have experienced before. For the five minutes we drove to the start of the first off-road trail, the Shark 6 felt more car-like and less ‘ute’ than I was ever expecting.

Unlike many of the utes on the market, the BYD Shark uses a coil spring, double wishbone rear suspension rather than a leaf-based design.

This does have an impact on its payload (790kg) and towing capacity (2500kg), though the lack of leaf springs does wonders to the way the Shark 6 drives and rides.

The ute seems softly sprung yet still retains plenty of body control. And then, when you do hit the dirt and drive at average road speeds, there is a level of refinement and comfort that some rival utes would simply not be able to match.

While the Shark 6 ute may be regarded as more of a lifestyle-focused offering, many Aussies will want to haul, carry payloads and, of course, go off road in their spare time, so it makes sense that BYD wanted to show us what its new ute can do.

On the steering wheel, there are two cool roller switches to choose drive modes and off-road modes. The off-road modes range from mountain mode right through to sand and mud modes, so something for pretty much all occasions and most conditions.

Set to normal drive mode and with mountain mode selected, I set about testing the Shark through a series of obstacles. With generous ground clearance and surprising levels of articulation, the Shark 6 did it with ease and did not get stuck.

One slight downside was tyre grip, largely due to the fact that the Shark 6 we drove was on standard road tyres. With all-terrains fitted, there is no doubt in my mind that this ute could be an absolute weapon on the tracks.

Some may wonder what the benefit would be of using a PHEV off-road versus the more traditional turbo-diesel ute. The answer to that is the response and control from the dual electric motors. The Shark 6 is a very clever car and manages its torque management well off-road.

And although we didn’t get to test wading depth, the Shark 6 has a very impressive 700mm allowance. Some may think that would be impossible with all the electrics in the Shark 6, but BYD has somehow done it.

Although we had very limited time to drive the new ‘Sharknado’, as I now like to nickname it, I believe it won’t take long behind the wheel for interested customers and potential future owners to see the benefits of this new type of ute.

Forget the badge or the background and get in and give it a go. The Shark 6 will surprise many in that way it gets down a road, whether than be on or off the black top.

What is the Shark 6’s interior and tech like?

BYD mentioned during the launch that the interior design of the Shark 6 was partially inspired by spaceships. And when I get in, there is certainly a bit of a Thunderbird’s theme going on inside the cabin.

Where the start/stop button lies is a row of rocker buttons, like something you’d see in a commercial jet. They are very tactile and feel satisfying to press. On the steering wheel, as I’ve already said, two mode dials are standard for drive and off-road modes. Again, a cool and unique feature.

Material choice is really solid and feels both well built and durable. There is an interesting mix of materials, soft and not-so-soft, but I think it works well overall. I do like the orange highlights in the seat stitching and also little flickers around the cabin.

An orange exterior colour with a very Australian name, Outback Orange, is coming, too, but not until sometime in 2025.

Front and centre and taking most of your attention is the huge 15.6-inch infotainment touchscreen. It runs wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto rotates to portrait orientation if that’s more your style. The driver gains large 10.25-inch digital instrument instrumentation that is easy to read and operate, as well as a decent-sized head-up display.

The front seats are electrically adjustable, ventilated and heated and are nicely upholstered – although they’re only wrapped in imitation leather – but most importantly, these pews feel very comfortable. I can’t see long trips being an issue in this new ute for Australia.

In the second row, kids or adults will have plenty of room back there. I had plenty of room in the second row with the driver’s seat in my usual spot, allowing ample knee room for my 178cm tall frame.

There are also plenty of second-row features, including a fold down armrest with two cup holders integrated, USB-A and USB-C charge ports, a 230-volt three-pin plug, air vents, magazine holders and, of course, side door bins with enough room for water bottles.

In the tray, dimensions for the rear space are 1520mm long by 1500mm wide. A great feature for all the tradies and campers in Australia will be the ute’s vehicle-to-load (V2L) function. There’s a trio of 230-volt three-pin household-style sockets in the tray area which will come in handy for powering work tools or fridges on the go.

The tailgate is manual but is damped with a gas strut, like in an Isuzu D-Max, for example. You can tell BYD has studied the market and has listened to what people want in a ute.

Towing capacity is rated at 2500kg, which I will admit some people may turn their noses up at. But the reality is that not everyone needs to tow 3500kg, so I can’t really see 2.5 tonnes being an issue for everyone.

Official payload is 790kg, significantly down on rivals from Toyota and Ford (usually 950kg to 1000kg), but that amount of weight will still be plenty for most non-commercial uses.

The BYD Shark 6 has surprised me yet again inside the cabin, offering plenty of practicality, unique styling elements and a spacious environment to spend time in.

Is the Shark 6 a safe car?

The BYD Shark 6 has not yet been tested by ANCAP, however the Chinese automaker’s local arm expects to see a five-star result soon.

As for safety features, the Shark 6 is fitted with the following:

• Front, side, curtain and far-side airbags
• Driver fatigue monitoring system
• Automatic emergency braking (AEB)
• Lane departure warning and prevention
• Emergency lane keep assist
• Front collision warning
• Intelligent cruise control
• Traffic sign recognition
• Front cross traffic alert and brake
• Rear cross traffic alert and brake
• Blind spot detection
• Trailer stability control
• High beam assist
• Child presence detection

As we only had a very limited off-road drive of the Shark 6, we are yet to test these active safety systems on the public road, but stay tuned for a more in-depth review coming soon.

What are the Shark 6’s ownership costs?

BYD had yet to reveal ownership credentials at the time of testing.

However, as a rough guide, other BYD models are covered by a six-year, 150,000km warranty with a separate eight-year/160,000km warranty for the high-voltage battery system.

While technically a different powertrain system, the loosely related Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV requires a six-month/3500rpm first complimentary service with subsequent servicing every 12 months/20,000kms thereafter, capped at $265 for the first five visits.

Again, this is a rough snapshot. BYD’s ute might differ by some measures.

The honest verdict on the Shark 6

The BYD Shark 6 provides a unique, enjoyable and altogether surprising ute package in its Australian debut.

I commend BYD for being a disruptor and innovator in the Aussie new car market. Succeed or fail, this great white is very likely to frighten the likes of Ford and Toyota.

BYD has brought a ute to market that’s fit for purpose, capable off-road, quiet and refined to drive and filled with technology and safety in what will hopefully be quite the bargain of a package on the road.

But no ute is perfect and I think it’s limited towing capacity and poor performing on-road spec tyres could be improved for the future.

But an freshly-announced aftermarket collaboration between BYD and Australian off-road specialists Ironman could solve those issues quickly with an array of genuine accessories.

At the end of the day, this is just the beginning. I’m looking forward to getting more seat time in the Sharknado going forward, so stay tuned to the Chasing Cars YouTube channel and website for more info on this ute as it happens.

Well done BYD. You’ve done what we thought wasn’t possible. You’ve frightened the ute industry.