BYD Australia promises no compromise to safety for all new vehicles it brings to market, in contrast with other brands that have failed to deliver five-star cars.
BYD Australia will look to continue its unbeaten five-star ANCAP safety rating streak with all new models, but is also aware it needs to balance high safety specification with value-led products.
This is in contrast to other brands that have recently brought to market sub-five-star cars, such as the MG 5 that arrived with a zero-star rating in 2024 before being recently updated with a three-star score after adding more safety gear.
Speaking to Drive, BYD Australia Head of Product Sajid Hasan said a core tenet of all the products the Chinese brand brings to local showrooms is safety.
“Safety is the top priority for us, all of our cars will take it very seriously and will strive to equip the vehicle with the highest level of safety specifications for that model platform,” Hasan said.
“And we’ll even make a conscious decision on whether we introduce a model that may have already been developed overseas for our market judging on its safety credentials.”
So far, BYD has expanded its showroom space to encompass six models – all of which have achieved a maximum five-star ANCAP rating.
Of the bunch, the Atto 3 has scored the best for adult occupant protection, with a 91 per cent result, though it was assessed on the now-outdated 2022 protocol.
Regardless, the Sealion 7, Shark 6, Dolphin, Seal, and Sealion 6 all performed well with respective scores of 87, 85, 89, 89, and 88 per cent respectively.
Likewise, all scored above 84 per cent in the child occupant protection test led by a 93 per cent score with the Sealion 7 electric car.
The vulnerable road user protection tests yielded scores between 69 and 85 per cent, while the safety assist category saw the BYD line-up achieve results between 75 and 86 per cent, topped by the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute.
BYD Australia will also bring to market its smallest electric SUV to date later this year with the Atto 2, while the Sealion 8 is due to arrive early in 2026.
While still too early to comment whether these new models will also achieve the five-star ANCAP high market, Hasan indicated all efforts will be made to get there.
“As to whether all vehicles should have a five-star rating? We’ll continually evaluate what that means in terms of vehicle specification and engineering and cost and price point for the model,” Hasan said.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
