BYD teased a new city car, the Great Seagull, at the Chengdu motor show through Zhang Zhuo, general manager of its Ocean division, and its type-approval filing with China’s MIIT has already put the numbers on record. It slots between the Seagull — sold in Europe as the Dolphin Surf — and the Dolphin.
Affected#
Anyone shopping the small end of BYD’s range. Nothing changes for a car already on the road. If you own a Dolphin or a Dolphin Surf, this is context for what replaces or joins them, not a change to your vehicle.
Confirmed#
From the MIIT homologation filing:
| Length · width · wheelbase | 4.20 m · 1.81 m · 2,650 mm |
| Kerb weight | 1,180–1,255 kg by version |
| Motor | 95 kW (127 hp), 150 km/h |
| Battery | LFP, 30 kWh or 39.2 kWh |
| Range (CLTC) | 320 km / 420 km |
Launch is set for China, end of 2026.
Unconfirmed#
- Europe. BYD has not said the Great Seagull will be exported, and no European launch date, price or specification exists. The suggestion that it could succeed the Dolphin is the source’s reading, not a BYD statement.
- Real-world range. CLTC is optimistic; the source converts 320 and 420 km to roughly 260 and 340 km WLTP, which is an estimate, not a homologated figure.
- Naming. “Great Seagull” is the Chinese-market name. BYD renames cars for Europe — the Seagull became the Dolphin Surf — so a European name, if it ever arrives, will probably differ.