The Seagull will become an entry-level model and will be one step below the Dolphin hatchback in the brand hierarchy. For the starting version, they ask for less than a million in ruble equivalent.
The Chinese brand BYD was founded in 1995 in Shenzhen (Guangdong Province, China). The name of the brand is an abbreviation that stands for «Build Your Dreams», which in English means «build/make your dreams come true». Last spring, the “celestial” manufacturer stopped producing cars with traditional gasoline internal combustion engines, now only electric cars and hybrids are listed in the brand’s lineup. The company plans to completely phase out combustion engine models by 2040.
Pictured: BYD Seagull
At the end of 2022, BYD dealers managed to sell more than 911,000 passenger electric vehicles worldwide, which provided the brand with second place after the American Tesla, whose figure was 1.31 million units. It should be noted that until recently, the small five-door hatchback Dolphin, which entered the market in mid-2021, was considered the junior model of BYD. Already at the end of 2022, the “five-door” experienced a slight restyling.However, the entry-level model will soon be replaced by the BYD Seagull. Photos of this subcompact five-door hatchback were published in the database of the Chinese Ministry of Industry in early January 2023, and pictures of the model without camouflage taken on the roads in China appeared later that month.
Now the official images of the Seagull have appeared, in addition, the manufacturer has named the prices of the city car: in the home market, its starting price tag will be 80 thousand yuan (equivalent to about 898.7 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate), and you will have to pay for the top version not less than 100 thousand yuan (about 1.12 million rubles).
BYD Seagull is included in the «ocean» brand line. The length of the “crumbs” is 3780 mm (345 mm less than the Dolphin hatchback), the width is 1715 mm (55 mm less), the height is 1540 mm (30 mm less), and the distance between the axles is 2500 mm (by 200 mm less).
«The Seagull» received a simple LED head optics, a solid plug in place of the radiator grille, a large trapezoidal air intake at the bottom of the front bumper, black central and rear roof pillars, a spoiler on the top of the fifth door, as well as taillights connected with a wide plate. There are still no pictures and official images of the interior yet.
So far, only one has been announced for the BYD Seagull subcompact hatchback “filling” option: we are talking about the only 75-horsepower electric motor. Other technical details, including battery capacity and range per charge, will be made public at a later date. According to the plan, sales of new items will start in April.
Now the cars of this Chinese brand are not officially represented in the Russian Federation, but last fall there was a rumor in the media that deliveries of cars could be arranged: it was reported that the Belarusian the company has submitted documents to Rosstandart to receive OTTS for three BYD models — the Song Plus crossover, the Qin Plus sedan and the Dolphin hatchback.