{"id":669425,"date":"2026-05-14T01:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/669425\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T01:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:48:14","slug":"byd-m9-approved-for-australia-is-a-chinese-brand-finally-serious-about-taking-on-the-kia-carnival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/669425\/","title":{"rendered":"BYD M9 approved for Australia: Is a Chinese brand finally serious about taking on the Kia Carnival?"},"content":{"rendered":"

BYD is one step closer to launching its first seven-seat people mover in Australia, with the M9 appearing in government approval documents.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a flurry of Chinese brands entering the people mover market in Australia, but almost all of them have been chasing more luxurious models like the Mercedes-Benz V-Class<\/a>. That’s because in their homeland, these people movers are seen as prestige or halo models, and often come loaded with technology and luxury features.<\/p>\n

With BYD\u2019s luxury Denza brand tackling this end of the people mover market with its D9<\/a>, that could leave the new BYD M9 \u2013 known in China as the Xia \u2013 to take on the top-selling Kia Carnival<\/a>, which is priced from $54,300 to $76,630 before on-road costs.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve contacted BYD Australia to confirm when the M9 will arrive in local showrooms.<\/p>\n

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here<\/a> to get a great deal.<\/p>\n

\"ApprovalApproval filing images\"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n

In China, the 2026 Xia is priced from between 206,800 to 269,800 RMB (~A$42,000-$54,750), down from 249,800 to 309,800 RMB (~A$50,700-$62,900) for last year\u2019s model.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Sealion 8<\/a> sold in Australia is priced from 229,800 to 285,800 RMB (~A$46,600-$58,000) in China, where it\u2019s known as the Tang L DM, while the electric Sealion 7<\/a> is priced from 189,800 to 239,800 RMB (~A$38,500-$48,700).<\/p>\n

Australian approval documents list a choice of two plug-in hybrid powertrains, both of which incorporate a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. Power and torque outputs are listed as 191.4kW and 218.2kW, respectively.<\/p>\n

The only plug-in hybrid people mover available in Australia at present is the GAC M8<\/a>, with the Carnival offered only as a conventional hybrid alongside a popular diesel powertrain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Payload is 654kg across the range and braked towing capacity is 1500kg, with the M9 measuring 5145mm long, 1970mm wide and 1805mm tall on a 3045mm wheelbase.<\/p>\n

That makes it 10mm shorter, 25mm narrower and 30mm taller than the Carnival on a 45mm shorter wheelbase.<\/p>\n

Australian approval documents don\u2019t list all technical specifications, but a look at BYD\u2019s Chinese website breaks down the Xia\u2019s powertrain options.<\/p>\n

The combustion engine produces 115kW of power and 225Nm of torque, while the electric motor produces 200kW and 315Nm. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The standard 20.39kWh battery provides 100km of electric driving range on the CLTC cycle and has a peak DC fast-charge rate of 41kW, while the 36.6kWh battery boosts range to 203km or 218km, and can be charged at up to 73kW.<\/p>\n

Fuel consumption is between 4.9L\/100km and 5.0L\/100km on the NEDC cycle for all Xia variants.<\/p>\n

The Chinese-market 2026 Xia rides on MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension with DiSus-C adaptive dampers.<\/p>\n

Inside, there\u2019s a 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system with sentinel and karaoke modes plus various games, as well as a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12-speaker sound system, tri-zone climate control, and heated, ventilated and power-adjustable front seats. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A panoramic sunroof and massaging front seats are available higher up in the range, as are \u201cfirst-class\u201d second-row seats with massaging, but all bar the base Xia come with heating and ventilation plus power-adjustable leg rests in the second row.<\/p>\n

The flagship ups the ante with a 26-inch head-up display, a 15.6-inch rear screen, a 24-speaker sound system with Dolby Atmos, a digital rear-view mirror, and a \u2018Children\u2019s Space\u2019 with AI voice interaction.<\/p>\n

Standard active safety and driver assist technology across the range includes adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, rear cross-traffic assist and safe exit warning.<\/p>\n

Available active safety and driver assist technology includes highway and city Navigation on Autopilot systems, remote parking assist, traffic light recognition, and front cross-traffic assist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Only one Chinese brand has tried to directly take on the top-selling Carnival \u2013 which last year claimed a whopping 73.4 per cent of Australia’s overall people mover market \u2013 and that was the LDV Mifa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, LDV Australia confirmed last year it had \u201cpaused\u201d sales of the Mifa and said it was continuing to monitor the people mover market in Australia.<\/p>\n

Kia has secured even more of a stranglehold on the people mover market as once-popular nameplates from Toyota and Honda have been withdrawn, while new fare like the Ford Tourneo<\/a> and Hyundai Staria<\/a> haven\u2019t come close to its sales numbers \u2013 even though the latter is mechanically related.<\/p>\n

MORE: Explore the BYD showroom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BYD is one step closer to launching its first seven-seat people mover in Australia, with the M9 appearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-669425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}