BYD's new Shark 6 Performance, launched in Australia this month, produces 469 hp and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) from a 2.0-liter turbo paired with an upgraded electric motor. The current Ford Ranger Raptor, with its twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, makes 405 hp and 430 lb-ft. BYD already beats the Raptor on both numbers. BYD Australia COO Stephen Collins told Drive.com.au that a proper Raptor rival is "on the wish list." The Shark 6 already beats the Ranger Raptor on power. It trails on capability, and not by much.
The gap is deliberate and fixable. The Shark 6 Performance keeps the standard truck's body-on-frame underpinnings but drops the locking differentials, the low-range transfer case, and the long-travel suspension that define the Ranger Raptor as an off-road product rather than a fast-accelerating pickup. None of those missing pieces are hard problems; two of them already exist inside BYD's own product catalog.
The Denza B5 Is The Parts Bin BYD Already Owns
BYD launched the Denza B5 in Australia earlier this year, a rebadged Fang Cheng Bao 5 that has been on sale in China since 2023. The Denza B5 is body-on-frame, runs a low-range transfer case, and includes both front and rear locking differentials. That is the exact hardware package the Shark 6 is missing. The engineering work required to put that drivetrain under a Shark 6 body is a project BYD could execute in 18 months, not three years.
A locking differential costs a few hundred dollars in parts. A V6 engine note costs a powertrain architecture. BYD can add the former. It cannot add the latter, which is why Ford's Ranger Raptor will keep a segment of buyers who prioritize how a truck sounds over how much torque it puts to the ground. Everyone else is BYD's to take.
The Ironman 4x4 Angle
Collins also mentioned BYD's partnership with Ironman 4×4, an Australian upfitter, as another path to a Raptor-class Shark 6. An aftermarket route is faster to market than a factory project: Ironman builds a homologated package, BYD dealers sell it as a factory-backed option. That is the same model Ford used with Raptor predecessor development in Australia and that Toyota uses with TRD hardware.
The aftermarket path also gives BYD something the factory path cannot: regional calibration. A Shark 6 Raptor rival tuned for Australian off-road conditions, by an Australian upfitter, with Australian dealer support, is a more defensible product than a one-size-fits-all factory trim spec'd in Shenzhen. BYD's China R&D center can approve the engineering; Ironman makes it Australian.
Ford has not commented on BYD's public interest in building a Ranger Raptor rival. BYD has not committed to a timeline. The Shark 6 Performance is on sale in Australia now; a Shark 6 Raptor equivalent, via either Ironman or an in-house program, is the most likely next step, with 2027 as the realistic floor for availability.