First Dolphin ‘pod’ lands in New Zealand

The first batch of BYD Dolphins, or what some might amusingly refer to as a ‘pod of Dolphins’, has touched down in New Zealand.

There has been a solitary pre-production Dolphin in the country for a while now, as driven by by EVs and Beyond. This time, however, the arrival includes standard production demonstrators.

Warren Willmot of BYD New Zealand confirmed to EVs and Beyond that there are now eight of these vehicles present in the country, all standard range. These Dolphins are set to make their way to prominent BYD dealerships in the coming week.

The major cities to house these Dolphin demonstrators include Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Lower Hutt, Wellington CBD, and Christchurch.

BYD New Zealand plans to start customer deliveries by September.

“Our BYD Dolphin is a vehicle that signifies the pivotal moment for EV uptake, marking the decline of the Japanese small hatch internal combustion engine segment,” says Willmot.

He adds, “It’s tremendously exciting to finally have this car here, and we’re looking forward to sharing some significant news about our BYD Network next week.”

The specifics of this news are currently undisclosed, although with rivals like the MG4 and Ora Good Cat hatchbacks recently dropping prices, a similar announcement wouldn’t be surprising.

The market is also eagerly awaiting pricing details for the upcoming Seal sedan.

Adding to the buzz around electric hatchbacks, the first shipment of MG4’s was also spotted arriving in New Zealand.

Christchurch dealer Cockram MG further ignited this excitement by sharing a photo of a truck full of orange MG’s on social media this week.

The official launch of the MG4 car is set for mid-month.