Is BYD bringing a cheaper electric SUV to Australia?

BYD has filed to trademark the Atto 3 Up nameplate in Australia, which suggests the Chinese brand is looking to bring a more affordable electric SUV Down Under.

The Atto 3 Up trademark suggests this model could be the Yuan Up, an MG ZS EV-sized electric SUV which debuted in China earlier this year; over there, our Atto 3 is known as the Yuan Plus.

Replacing the Yuan Pro not sold here, the Yuan Up measures 4310mm long, 1830mm wide and 1675mm tall on a 2620mm wheelbase. That makes it 145mm shorter, 45mm narrower and 60mm lower than an Atto 3 on a 100mm shorter wheelbase.

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It’s available in China with a choice of 32kWh or 45.12kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, affording either 301km or 401km of CLTC range and 45kW or 65kW DC charging capability.

There’s a choice of 70kW/180Nm or 130kW/290Nm electric motors, with 0-100km/h times of between 12.9 and 7.9 seconds depending on the variant.

It rides on MacPherson strut front and torsion-beam rear suspension.

While it’s priced from just 96,800 yuan (A$20,500) in China – around $5000 less than the cheapest Yuan Plus/Atto 3 –this is not only for the least powerful, shortest-range powertrain, but also a variant that has no standard active safety technology.

You need to step up higher in the range to get autonomous emergency braking, which will be mandatory on all new cars in Australia from March 2025, as well as other active safety features like adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, and rear cross-traffic assist.

There’s an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster and either a 10.1- or 12.8-inch rotating central touchscreen.

More expensive Yuan Up models also include features such as a head-up display, heated and power-adjustable front seats, and a panoramic glass roof.

The presence of a trademark is no guarantee the vehicle is coming. Earlier this year, BYD also trademarked the King and King L nameplates, which it has yet to use.

Late last year, it also trademarked the Dolphin Mini nameplate, expected to be applied to the entry-level Seagull hatchback. This has also yet to reach showrooms.

Should BYD bring the Yuan Up here, however, it would give the brand a more affordable electric SUV and potentially a more desirable offering in today’s SUV-hungry market than its existing entry-level model, the Dolphin hatchback.

In Australia, we get vehicles from both BYD’s Dynasty series (Atto 3) and its Ocean series (Dolphin, Seal, Sealion 6).

Customer deliveries of the new Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute begin in January, while next February the electric Sealion 7 – a mid-sized SUV rivalling the Tesla Model Y – will also lob.

BYD’s local distributor EVDirect is expecting to double its sales tally from last year, with a total of 25,000 vehicles expected to reach consumers this year. To the end of October, it has sold 16,913 vehicles.

Further, it’s expecting to continue doubling those sales year after year.

If BYD doubles its sales target in 2024 and in subsequent years, it would sell 50,000 vehicles in 2025, and 100,000 vehicles in 2026 – the latter being a figure that was achieved last year by only Toyota and Mazda.

To get there, EVDirect says it will focus on importing new models with high sales potential.

“The opportunity for us is that there’s so much product to choose from. My preference is ute and SUV, that’s where the big segments are in Australia,” EVDirect CEO David Smitherman told CarExpert in October.

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