"No corners cut" for BYD's cut-price Atto 2 PHEV

BYD Australia has been in a race to the bottom with its rollout of impossibly cheap pricing for its electrified models, but it insists that the pursuit of market-leading value isn't coming at the cost of vehicle quality.

The Chinese brand now fields Australia's cheapest plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV), with its new Atto 2 DM-i small SUV priced from $24,990 before on-road costs – though it has now sweetened the deal even further by launching a $25,990 drive-away offer less than two weeks after its launch, potentially saving buyers roughly $3000.

"There's no corners cut. We negotiate pretty hard with our headquarters, and it's just the full package," BYD Australia chief operating officer Stephen Collins told CarExpert at the model's local launch.

"We got strong cooperation from our headquarters, and we saw that as a prime position where we can really offer that attainability. We've been able to do that."

BYD Australia chief product officer Sajid Hasan added that, despite the new price benchmark, the brand didn't set out to launch the country's cheapest PHEV SUV.

"It actually fell into our hands. We didn't set out to achieve that title. You never know who's going to take the title," he told CarExpert.

"It was about making sure that the price point was competitive and that we could have enough market accessibility within the small SUV segment. We knew for us to achieve that reach we needed to be priced amongst the existing competitors."

In terms of standard equipment, the base Atto 2 DM-i is still relatively well-equipped given its price. It has alloy wheels, LED exterior lighting, and a large infotainment touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, though there is a plastic steering wheel and cloth seat trim.

It also has a near-full suite of safety gear, including adaptive cruise control with lane-centring, blind-spot monitoring, a surround-view camera, and rear cross-traffic alert.

"The way we've specified our Essential grade, I think we can still get strong interest in it. It isn't a very barebones spec... it's got the 360-degree camera as standard, and can be used as a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid with decent EV range for daily commuting," Mr Hasan said.

Notably, the base Atto 2 PHEV has a very short electric-only driving range. Its 7.85kWh lithium iron phosphate battery provides a claimed WLTP range of just 39km, supplemented by a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine.

That makes it the mainstream PHEV with the lowest EV range in Australia, though Ford's Ranger Hybrid is close, given its circa-50km claim is derived from more lenient NEDC testing. Only high-end performance cars have shorter EV ranges.

For context, the top-spec Atto 2 DM-i Premium has a larger battery and an electric range claim of 90km.

"We're pretty much now operating in the smallest [range] for a plug-in hybrid; it's not likely to get smaller than this," Mr Hasan said in response.

"The number is still practical for daily commuting for most people living in cities and metropolitan areas. They just need to plug it in and charge it overnight, and they can get very economical motoring."

The Atto 2 DM-i joins the existing lineup of pure-electric Atto 2 variants, which are still priced from $31,990 plus ORCs.

Mr Collins anticipates PHEV demand to be strong alongside the EV, and the Atto 2 is expected to become one of the Chinese brand's top sellers.

"The mix will be interesting between the PHEV and the EV. We think it's going to be probably 60/40 [per cent]. But I guess the consumers will dictate that; we'll see how that plays out," he told CarExpert.

"We're confident it's going to become one of our core volume models. Sealion 7's our biggest-selling model by a fair margin, followed by Shark, and we think Atto 2 with the introduction of DM-i will be the third pillar, if you like, for our core volume. It's an important car for us."

The introduction of the Atto 2 DM-i came after BYD launched a drive-away deal for the Atto 1 electric hatch, a move that made it Australia's cheapest new car.

MORE: Explore the BYD Atto 2 showroom