Chinese car giant BYD announced in April that it will bring an extra 30,000 new energy vehicles, both full battery electric and plug in hybrids to Australia in months to come to meet the growing consumer interest.
Now, the company has confirmed that it will be sending one of its own car carrier ships, carrying thousands of NEVs to Australia as part of a special shipment, the first of which is delivering almost 5,000 additional BYD and Denza cars.
The ship has officially left Shanghai and will help fill orders of Australian drivers who are making the switch to EVs off the back of fuel price hikes and additional cost of living pressures. It is a first for the EV industry in Australia.
The ship, the BYD Zhengzhou, is one of eight purpose-built and BYD-owned roll-on roll-off (RORO) car carrying vessels, and is expected to dock first at the Port of Melbourne in early June. After that, the ship will be on route to unload cars in Sydney and Brisbane.
According to BYD, the popular BYD Sealion 7 electric family SUV and the smaller, more affordable Atto 2 electric SUV will make up over 2,000 of the 4,810 vehicles. Other premium and luxury models such as the Denza B5 off-roader and D9 people mover are also part of this shipment.
“BYD is demonstrating that it has the ability to respond quickly to customer needs, and act fast,” BYD Australia chief operating officer Stephen Collins said in a statement.
“BYD’s vertically integrated system allows it to scale production as required, with a fleet of BYD-owned vessels ready to take cars wherever they need to go almost anywhere in the world.
In 2026, BYD overtook Tesla as the most popular electric brand in Australia, and in April announced that it had delivered its 100,000th NEV in Australia, marking a major milestone.
With first delivery of the massive increase of BYD vehicles into our market just weeks away, it sets the stage for the company to easily surpass its 2025 sales volume of just over 50,000 cars in the market for 2026.
See The Driven’s detailed EV sales data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026; by model and by brand.
Sign up for The Driven’s free daily newsletter and get the latest EV news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox.
