Jakarta, huutoanland Indonesia
—
Automotive manufacturer from China which is known as the epitome of electric cars,
BYD
, now playing away to Japan with a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV).The strategy used is the same, offering it at low prices to compete with giants such as Toyota and Honda.
The model launched is the Sealion 6 SUV, BYD’s first PHEV for the Japanese market.The price of this car is set at 3.98 million yen or around Rp. 425.1 million (exchange rate Rp. 106.8) for the front-wheel drive (FWD) variant and 4.48 million yen (Rp. 478.5 million) for the all-wheel drive (AWD) variant.
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For comparison, the Toyota RAV4 PHEV is sold for 5.66 million yen (Rp. 604.5 million) and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV for 5.29 million yen (Rp. 565 million), even though they are not direct competitors due to differences in various specifications.
“We set this price so that consumers in Japan can experience getting competitive prices,” said BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji, reported
Nikkei Asia
, Monday (1/12).
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Tofukuji said the RAV4 PHEV and Harrier are benchmarks for the Sealion 6 PHEV.He also said he hoped to get a surprised response regarding the price which was said to be under 4 million yen (Rp. 427 million).
BYD claims the Sealion 6 PHEV can achieve a driving distance of 100 kilometers just relying on a fully charged 18.3 kWh battery.The battery is said to be able to be charged from 30 percent to 80 percent in just 30 minutes using fast charging.
The maximum mileage can increase to 1,200 kilometers when combined with a tank full of fuel.
This car is equipped with a 1,500 cc inline 4-cylinder engine with 72 kW power and 122 Nm torque for FWD and a 1,500 cc Turbo with 96 kW and 220 Nm torque for AWD.The fuel tank capacity of both is the same 60 liters.
The Sealion 6 PHEV made its debut at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 last October.BYD Auto Japan opened orders on November 1 and is said to have more than 300 units.
Delivery of this unit will take place at the end of January.
The share of the PHEV segment in the Japanese new car market is still small, around 1.4 percent of total sales in October of 3,004 units based on data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.Meanwhile, hybrid models dominated the market by 61 percent that month.
BYD entered Japan, where local manufacturers dominate.However, Chinese brands are slowly starting to build a strong foundation.
Throughout January-October 2025, car imports in Japan were recorded at 199,546 units.BYD’s share is still small, namely 1.6 percent or 3,216 units, but that figure is up 70 percent compared to the same period last year.
BYD has been doing business in Japan since 2023. Before the Sealion 6 PHEV they had launched five electric models and plan to sell electric kei cars specifically for the Japanese market next year.
(fea)
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