BYD Teases China Launch of Shark Plug-In Hybrid Pickup Two Years After Overseas Debut

• BYD released official images of the Shark, bringing the pickup a step closer to a domestic launch following its overseas debut.
• The Shark recorded 4,300 overseas sales in August, bringing its total for the first 8 months of this year to 29,997.

BYD (HKEX: 1211) has teased the Shark pickup for the Chinese market for the first time, kicking off a promotional campaign to bring the plug-in hybrid model home following its overseas debut.

The company released official images of the Shark on its official Weibo account on Thursday, with the slogan "The overseas champion returns." Its sub-brand Fang Cheng Bao shared the same content on its official Weibo account.

Xiong Tianbo, general manager of the Fang Cheng Bao division, also shared the images. The teaser did not disclose a domestic launch date or pricing for the Shark.

The campaign marks a shift toward consumer-facing promotion for the Shark's China launch, following earlier executive comments and a regulatory filing.

BYD launched the Shark in Mexico in May 2024, making it a rare model from the company to debut overseas before going on sale in China.

The Shark has since entered markets including Brazil, Australia, Cambodia and Pakistan.

Its overseas sales totaled 4,300 in August, bringing the total for the first 8 months of this year to 29,997, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

BYD executives had previously signaled plans to bring the Shark to China. Li Yunfei, general manager of branding and public relations, said in October 2025 that a domestic launch was being planned.

In May this year, Xiong announced that the Shark would join Fang Cheng Bao's lineup in 2026, without providing a detailed launch schedule.

The Shark subsequently appeared in a vehicle filing catalog released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in July, classified as a plug-in hybrid multipurpose truck.

The model listed in the Chinese filing measures 5,457 mm in length, 1,971 mm in width and 1,925 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,260 mm, matching the dimensions of the overseas version.

It pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with front and rear electric motors rated at peak outputs of 170 kW and 150 kW, respectively. It uses a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery made by BYD's FinDreams Battery unit.

The Shark is built on BYD's DMO platform, with DM standing for dual mode and O for off-road. The latest teaser did not disclose battery capacity or range figures for the Chinese version.

Adding the Shark will expand Fang Cheng Bao's lineup into pickups, putting BYD in competition with GWM (HKEX: 2333) and Geely Auto's (HKEX: 0175) Radar brand in the domestic segment.

It is worth noting that China's policies toward pickup trucks are not favorable, which has kept this category a niche market.

From January through August of this year, China's pickup truck sales totaled 455,000 units, of which 62,000 were new energy pickup trucks, representing an 18% year-on-year increase, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

By comparison, passenger vehicle retail sales in China from January through August totaled 11.7 million units, of which 7.78 million were NEVs.