BYD says fleet buyers now account for 20 per cent of Australian sales

BYD lifts its fleet ambition

BYD says fleet buyers now account for 20 per cent of its Australian sales mix, as it pursues a larger share of business alongside its strong private-buyer sales. Chief operating officer Stephen Collins told CarExpert in September that fleets had represented about seven or eight per cent of the mix a year earlier. His longer-term aspiration is for fleet sales to reach the mid-30s as a percentage of BYD’s total. That is a step beyond the approximately 20 per cent mix BYD had targeted for 2026 when Collins spoke to GoAuto in May. ¹⁴

The latest figure is a company-reported share, not a count of fleet deliveries. BYD’s public relations director Paul Ellis told GoAutoNews Premium in August that the mix was then probably around 15 per cent and described 35 per cent as an eventual goal. The September account therefore indicates further progress by BYD’s measure, rather than a new sales target with a specified deadline. ¹⁵

A private-buyer-heavy sales base

BYD sold 52,415 vehicles in Australia in 2025, according to CarExpert, with 82.8 per cent going to private buyers and 15.9 per cent to businesses; government and rental customers made up the remainder. CarExpert says BYD had the highest private-buyer proportion among last year’s top 10 brands, ahead of GWM at 62.5 per cent and Mazda at 59.7 per cent. Those annual buyer-category figures should not be treated as directly interchangeable with Collins’s more recent descriptions of a fleet sales mix. ¹²

The Shark 6 illustrates the gap BYD is trying to close. CarExpert reported in February that private customers accounted for 86.1 per cent of the plug-in hybrid ute’s Australian sales in 2025, compared with 24.4 per cent for the Toyota HiLux and 20.4 per cent for the Ford Ranger. In May, Collins told GoAuto that BYD had invested in its fleet operation and that the fleet share had reached 18 per cent as of April. These are reported proportions at different times, not like-for-like measures of ute demand. ²⁴

Which vehicles BYD is putting forward

Collins identified the Shark 6 Dynamic cab-chassis and Performance variants, along with the newer Seal 6, as part of BYD’s fleet push in his September comments to CarExpert. He said BYD was also selling Sealion 7 and Sealion 8 SUVs to some fleets. The Dynamic and Performance joined the existing Shark 6 Premium in May, GoAuto reported. In August, Ellis told GoAutoNews Premium he expected the Shark 6 to lead the brand’s fleet sales, pointing particularly to demand for cab-chassis vehicles. ¹⁴⁵

At the May launch of the two additional Shark 6 variants, Collins told GoAuto that BYD already had several hundred cab-chassis orders. He anticipated Shark 6 sales of at least 1500 vehicles a month across the range, with an estimated mix of 55 per cent Premium, 25 per cent Performance and 20 per cent Dynamic cab-chassis. Those volumes and proportions were BYD expectations, not reported sales results. ⁴

For the Seal 6 plug-in hybrid sedan and Touring wagon, BYD chief product officer Sajid Hasan told GoAutoNews Premium in August that he expected roughly 300 to 400 Australian sales a month, with an approximately 80 per cent private and 20 per cent fleet split. He expected the wagon to attract most demand, while Ellis singled out the sedan’s fleet potential. Collins subsequently told CarExpert that BYD was examining the Seal 6 for fleet use; the model-specific sales forecast remains separate from his aspiration for BYD’s overall fleet mix. ⁵¹

Fleet operations and the retail network

The effort extends beyond adding variants. Collins told CarExpert in February that BYD had established a fleet department, processes and pricing, and was working on service waits and parts supply. He said a Melbourne warehouse investment formed part of that work. Ellis told GoAutoNews Premium in August that BYD had fleet specialists within the business and working with dealers. These are BYD’s accounts of its preparations, not independent measures of fleet customer service. ²⁵

BYD’s dealer timetable has also been revised in its public comments. Chasing Cars reported in May that Collins was aiming for more than 150 dealerships by the third quarter of 2026; AutoTalk had reported a goal of 150 by year’s end in February. In the latest account, Collins told CarExpert the network stood at 120 retailers and that he expected 150 by the end of 2026, followed by 200 by the end of 2027. He said the current expansion was concentrated primarily in provincial and rural areas, with sales, service and parts outlets intended to support customers. ¹³⁶

What comes next

BYD has not tied its mid-30s fleet aspiration to a delivery date in Collins’s September remarks. He told CarExpert that growth could involve further variants of existing models, new nameplates or both, with more to say towards the end of 2026 or early 2027. That leaves any additional fleet-focused vehicle unannounced. GoAuto reported in May that Collins had raised a Performance cab-chassis as a possibility if demand supported it, rather than as a confirmed addition. ¹⁴