The 2025 BYD Atto 2 has been confirmed for Australian showrooms, where smallest and most affordable electric SUV offered here by the Chinese automaker so far will arrive in the fourth quarter of this year.
BYD Australia – which will take over local distribution of the brand from independent importer EVDirect next month – has announced the compact five-seat Atto 2 electric SUV will be offered here with a single electric powertrain and two model grades.
Launched in China in March 2024, the BYD Atto 2 is sold under other names overseas, including Atto 3 Up, Yuan Pro and S1 Pro.
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It will be sold in Australia as the Atto 2 to underline its positioning, in terms of both size and price, below the brand’s pioneering Atto 3 electric SUV with which it shares its platform, and will be aimed at rivals including the Kia EV3 and Hyundai Kona Electric.
“As an SUV, the Atto 2 is very important,” Sajid Hasan, BYD Australia senior product planning manager, told CarExpert.
“What we’ve seen is that there’s been a shifting of passenger cars to SUVs. What the hatch segment used to be has flowed into the small SUV segment, and then you got a lot of cross-pollination between the medium SUV segment and light SUV segments.”
SUVs have accounted for 59.8 per cent of all new vehicle sales so far this year in Australia – not including Tesla and Polestar sales, which are reported separately.
Led by the Hyundai Kona, the small SUV segment the Atto 2 will enter for BYD made up the third-largest chunk (6.4 per cent) of the new vehicle market, behind mid-size SUVs and just a few sales behind 4×4 utes.
“This small SUV segment being a very large portion of the total market composition, volume-wise, is just an enormous growth opportunity for us to grow our brand and our volume,” Mr Hasan said.
While pricing is yet to be confirmed, the Atto 2 should be cheaper than the mid-size Atto 3, which starts from $39,990 before on-road costs – making it considerably more affordable than the new Kia EV3’s $48,990 starting price.
The Hyundai Kona Electric is priced from $54,000 before on-road costs.
In China, the Atto 2 starts at ¥96,800 (A$20,835), which is less than the BYD Dolphin hatchback (¥99,800 or A$21,480) that’s currently priced from $29,990 drive-away in Australia.
Based on its specs in China – where it is called the BYD Yuan Up – the Atto 2 measures 4310mm long, 1830mm wide and 1675mm high, making it 145mm shorter than the Atto 3.
However, it’s larger than light SUVs such as the Mazda CX-3 and Nissan Qashqai – and the electric Jeep Avenger – but not as big as Australia’s most popular SUVs, like the mid-size Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5.
Indeed, the Atto 2 has a 400-litre boot, which expands to 1370L of space with the second row folded.
In China, the Atto 2 is offered with a single electric motor mounted to the front axle, with the choice of 70kW and 130kW power outputs. BYD Australia confirmed the 130kW/290Nm version will be standard here, and available in both ‘Essential’ and ‘Premium’ trim grades when it arrives Down Under.
The Australian-spec Atto 2 will also have a 51.13kWh Lithium Ion Phosphate (LFP) ‘Blade’ battery and, while no driving range has been confirmed, it’s larger than the 32kWh and 45.1kWh battery capacities available overseas, which enable a WLTP range of 312km.
BYD Australia has confirmed few other specs, but the Atto 2 will have flush door-handles and a panoramic sunroof as standard, outside a cabin including synthetic leather seat trim and 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster.
Essential versions will feature a 10.1-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen, while the Premium grade will gain a 12.8-inch screen and a 360-degree surround camera.
BYD has ambitious expansion plans, including a goal of exports accounting for half its global sales by 2030, which would be a significant achievement given the brand is not present in the US, the world’s second largest auto market behind China.
The brand was officially launched in Australia in 2022 under EVDirect, whose chief told CarExpert as recently as January this year that BYD plans to outsell long-time local market leader Toyota by 2027.
BYD’s recent move to take over its Australian distribution operation comes as the Chinese automaker looks to offer a broader range of models to continue its sales growth.
EVDirect previously said BYD had ambitious plans to sell 100,000 vehicles per annum in Australia by 2026, by doubling its sales and launching up to five new models annually. Last year BYD sold 20,458 vehicles in Australia, where Toyota sold 241,296.
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