BYD SEAL 6 TOURING

New plug-in hybrid estate from China is a Superb for Octavia money

- JAMES DISDALE

You've probably clocked a recent rise in BYDs on the road - something that's no doubt explained by its staggering 547% year-on-year increase in UK sales over the past 12 months.

In total, the Chinese giant has shifted around 35,000 cars here in 2025, while last month's sales helped its market share creep above 2%. And that's not all, because it also has taken a 7.24% stake in the plugin hybrid and electric car segment. Impressive for a brand that only landed in the UK around two years ago.

Now there's another new addition to the burgeoning BYD ranks: the Seal 6 DM-i. Not a catchy name by any stretch, but the good news is that it's an affordable new family car that - hurrah and huzzah - isn't a compact SUV.

Instead, this is a good old-fashioned D-segment contender that's available as either a saloon or a Touring estate, both of which pretty much fill a Skoda Superb-sized space on the road.

You might well have thought that such machines were falling out of favour, but the BYD bigwigs have assured us that European buyers still have a penchant for traditional four-doors and cavernous estates, so the new arrival is a big deal.

We've already had a brief taste of a Seal 6 a month or so ago and came away impressed with its perceived quality, value and efficiency, but this is the first time we've driven one on UK roads. So, what's it like?

Although it's referred to as a PHEV, the Seal 6 is actually more of a range-extender, with a 97bhp 1.5-litre petrol engine working as a generator for a 194bhp electric motor that drives the front wheels.