Denied! Why the bonkers BYD Yangwang U9 electric hypercar has been locked out of Australia

While BYD has given the thumbs up for the outrageous Yangwang U8 SUV to come to Australia by the end of 2025, it’s thumbs down for the U9 hypercar.

The U9 was revealed at the same times as the U8 SUV in early 2023 when BYD launched the Yangwang luxury brand.

It has has earned instant attention for its ability to ‘dance’ with all four wheels off the ground and drive unfettered with only three attached wheels thanks to its electromechanical body control system.

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More predictably but no less appealingly, the classically styled two-door coupe is a quad-motor 820kW electric supercar that is claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 2.0 seconds

But with Chines pricing set at the equivalent of $240,000, demand will obviously be limited.

Mind you the plug-in hybrid U8 SUV is priced roughly equivalently, but Australian BYD importer Luke Todd is convinced the Range Rover fighter has a worthwhile local market.

At the Japan Mobility Show this week he was able to convince BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu demand would be enough to justify the expense of a right-hand drive conversion program for U8.

But the managing director of EVDirect doesn’t feel the same way about the U9.

“I would love to say yes [the U9 is coming to Australia],” Todd told EVCentral.

“But in reality the U9 is a hypercar or supercar or whatever you want to call it … Personally I don’t think there is enough demand there in Australia.

“Who knows, we might bring it on for some track activities and things like that, but the reality is it’s such a small market.”

Todd certainly has a point. A grand total of 172 Ferraris, 169 Lamborghinis and 71 McLarens have been sold in Australia so this year.

“The U9 is off the charts, I’ve seen it in the flesh a few times now and it’s so great,” he added

“But the number of people that would buy that in Australia is very limited and that’s people who could afford it and would want.”

Todd said the U9 also didn’t tally with BYD’s Australian “affordable luxury” strategy.

“Once you start getting into hypercars it’s not affordable luxury.”