BYD Shark arrives in Brazil as EV giant bets on market shake-up

China’s BYD launched its first pickup truck in Brazil, the Shark, to challenge the top-selling Toyota Hilux and the Ford Ranger. The Shark will play a significant role in BYD’s ambitions to become a top-selling automaker over the next few years.

BYD sees Brazil as a critical piece to its overseas expansion as it looks to continue climbing the global sales charts.

Although BYD held a Shark launch event in Goiania on Saturday, pre-orders opened earlier this month, starting at $66,700 (BRZ 379,000).

The Shark is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) pickup with 429 combined horsepower. Powered by a 29.58 kWh BYD Blade Battery, it has an all-electric NEDC range of up to 62 miles (100 km) and a combined NEDC range of over 520 miles (840 km).

Although gas and diesel-powered trucks still dominate sales in Brazil, BYD believes its hybrid pickup will attract buyers.

BYD believes Brazil’s booming agriculture business will help drive growth. The automaker sees commercial customers, like mining giant Vale, to account for around 70% of Shark sales.

BYD Shark to shake-up Brazil’s pickup market

“The potential market for pickup trucks in the agricultural sector is very large,” BYD commercial director in Brazil, Henrique Antunes, said (via Bloomberg).

Antunes explained that even customers “who are not in the agricultural sector often look to the agricultural sector to buy a pickup truck. “

The pickup is already attracting more demand than its previous vehicle, the Yuan Pro. Since opening pre-orders on October 3, buyers have reserved around 1,000 to 1,500 Shark models. The Yuan Pro had around 600 in pre-sales.

Antunes expects between 10,000 and 15,000 Shark sales annually, placing it among Brazil’s top five best-selling mid-size pickups.

The Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and Chevy S10 currently dominate the market. They also start at around $38,700 (BRZ 220,000). BYD is sweetening the deal for pre-orders with an included solar-charging kit, a portable charger, and a full year of free insurance.

BYD expects the Shark to boost momentum further after sales surged 700% in the first nine months of 2024. It currently ranks tenth in Brazil’s auto sales but expects to be among the top five by 2027. “BYD didn’t arrive in Brazil to be a supporting actor,” Antunes said.

The Shark is BYD’s sixth new vehicle to launch in Brazil as the company boosts its presence in the region. Its growing market share has already set the alarm off with commercial competitors with drastic price cuts.

BYD is investing over $1 billion (BRZ 5.5 billion) to build a plant in Bahia, where Ford operated until 2021.

According to Alexandre Baldy, BYD’s senior vice president in Brazil, the company expects to start assembling vehicles in December 2024. Full production will follow in the first half of 2025, “not semi-knock-down or complete knock-down,” Baldy explained.