BYD has announced a new cash back offer on its best-selling EV in Australia as it seeks to chase down Toyota to be the country’s biggest seller of new cars.
The Chinese giant in June fell just 243 vehicles short of overtaking Toyota as the best selling car maker in the month of June, with a total of 18,881, including 10,371 EV sales, although it is still way behind on the 2026 year to date.
Its best selling vehicle has been the Sealion 7 electric SUB, which recorded 4,730 sales in June – ranking it fourth overall behind the Tesla Model Y, the Ford Ranger and the Toyota HiLux, and taking its total to more than 25,000 sales since launching in February last year.
The BYD Sealion 7 comes in two variants, Premium and Performance, with prices starting at $54,990 for the entry-level model. The top-spec performance variant bumps up to $63,990 before on-road costs.
The new cash-back offer is for $2,500 in the month of July for the Sealion 7 premium model. This offer is valid for buyers who purchase the vehicle by 31 July 2026 and take delivery by 30 August 2026.
The new cash back offer suggests that BYD has available stock on shore, after struggling to meet surging demand triggered by the war in Iran and soaring petrol and diesel prices.
The entry-level Sealion 7 Premium is powered by a single 230 kW rear-mounted motor, which delivers a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 6.7 seconds.
Both Sealion 7 variants are equipped with an 82.56 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) BYD blade battery pack, which can be charged at speeds up to 150 kW when DC charging.
They also have an on-board 11 kW AC charger for three-phase charging, which is a welcome upgrade over previous models that only had 7 kW single-phase charging.
This battery pack offers a range of 482 km on the Premium model, and a future version could offer a more affordable variant, with a smaller battery as seen in the ADR approvals application late last year.
On the inside, both variants offer a 15.6-inch infotainment screen, which also features Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard.
On top of that, there is a premium 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system for an immersive sound experience.
Globally, BYD sold more than 2.2 million battery-electric vehicles in 2025, ahead of Tesla, which delivered just under 1.7 million. The company also recorded strong growth in export volumes, underlining its expansion beyond the increasingly competitive Chinese EV market.
BYD is aiming for Toyota in our market and could reach the second spot, overtaking Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Ford by the end of this year.
With that ambition in mind, this year will likely see the brand crack 100,000 car sales, and with new models and volumes on the way, it will drive further interest into the brand locally.
See The Driven’s EV sales data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026; by model and by brand
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