BYD officially launches new Seal 06 GT starting for under $20,000

As promised when pre-orders started this past August, BYD has officially launched its sporty new Seal 06 GT in China and has delivered pricing even lower than initially promised. All hail the electric hot hatch.

The BYD Seal 06 GT is a new all-electric hot hatch based on the original Seal fastback sedan, which has been in production since 2022. That original BEV recently saw a 2025 model year refresh to compete against the Tesla Model 3, undercutting the American automaker’s starting MSRP by $10,000.

The Seal is also a key model in BYD’s expansion into Europe, including Germany, as it erects a localized production facility in Hungary. We first heard about the GT version of the Seal from BYD during the Beijing Auto Show last April.

However, BYD called it the Ocean-M concept and described it as the latest addition to the automaker’s “Ocean” range of BEVs and the industry’s first RWD performance electric hatchback.

By June, we got our first full glimpse at the new hot hatch before BYD confirmed its official name would be the Seal 06 GT. In August, BYD began taking pre-orders in China, promising the hatchback would launch at a price between RMB 150,000 ($21,120) and RMB 200,000 ($28,160).

However, BYD officially launched the Seal 06 GT in China today, starting at an MSRP of RMB 136,800 ($19,260).

BYD’s Seal 06 GT launches at a lower price than expected

BYD celebrated the launch of the Seal 06 GT in China on Weibo today, hailing it as the “young people’s first GT.” The hot hatch sits atop BYD’s latest BEV architecture, the e-Platform 3.0 Evo, which supports four different variants of different ranges and pricing. See below:

The Seal 06 GT measures 4,630 mm in length, 1,880 mm in width, and 1,490 mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2,820 mm. The two lower trims feature LFP blade batteries in a 59.52 kWh pack, while the two higher trim levels are equipped with a 72.96 kWh pack.

BYD says its new 3.0 Evo 800V platform enables the Seal 06 GT to recharge from 30-80% percent in 20-22 minutes on a DCFC. Each trim also comes with BYD’s DiPilot intelligent ADAS standard, which enables Level 2 autonomous driving.

There was no mention of Europe during the launch, but it’s certainly possible that the new hot hatch GT will follow the original BYD Seal from China into markets around the EU.