The ‘sit up high’ obsession that’s made SUVs so dominant on Australian roads has been dreadful for old-school station wagons.

Yet a wagon can often be better – sometimes a lot better – than a heavy, thirsty and over-done SUV.

Skoda has done the job with its Octavia and Superb for more than a decade and now there is more proof from the strangest of places – China.

It’s wrapped into the BYD Seal 6, a wagon which is also available as a similarly old-school sedan to line up against the Toyota Camry.

Not that BYD is doing A Big Number on its station wagon.

Instead, it’s all about the car’s petrol-electric hybrid system, which comes with a claimed 1000 kilometres of range. That’s a full thousand without having to either fill the petrol tank or connect to the large onboard battery.

Other brands are talking big on the total range of the PHEV contenders – that’s Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, although some say ’Super Hybrid’ – and the ability to run more than 100 kilometres of day-to-day driving in fully-electric mode.

BYD decided to prove its point with a 1000-kilometre run from Sydney to Melbourne over two days, including a diversion into the Victorian high country instead of just hugging the Hume. Naturally, since BYD people had pre-run the course, it worked.

But, just as importantly, the Seal 6 Touring – a wagon tag used by a number of European brands – showed what the Chinese brand has done and achieved in and for Australia. And Australians.

The price is a head-snapping $39,990. The performance is solid and dependable. The quality is very good. The interference by ‘driver assist’ systems is minimal.

All-in-all, the Seal 6 Touring is proof that BYD is on-target with its plan to be a Top 3 brand in Australia in double-quick time. Some of its other models are lagging, but it’s expanding the showroom range and also hitting more than just the predictable ‘we are an EV brand’ messaging of the Chinese newbies.

Driving the Seal 6 is easy and relaxing. The ride is smooth with only minimal intrusion of bad-road impacts, the cabin is nicely quiet, and the steering and brakes are solid and predictable.

Because we were driving the Touring, there was time and ’stuff’ to check the back-end space and usage. It’s ticks all around on that front – or back.

But because the Seal 6 is also available as a four-door sedan, the cabin quality and back-seat space is measured and tested. More ticks.

Of course, there are predictable screens and some clunky interfaces, and the ADAS systems can go wonky at times. Not exactly wrong, but not right either for us or our roads.

The best comparison is against the Camry, even without a wagon or a PHEV on the Toyota team. The BYD comfortable undercuts the Toyota on pricing, since the Camry sedan starts at $39,990 against $34,990 for the Touring 6.

The Chinese contender also has a stronger warranty, with six years of car coverage and eight years for the hybrid battery, as well as five years of capped-price servicing.

No, the BYD is not as good to drive – the Camry is now much more like a Lexus than an old-school Corolla – and the brand and resale are not as proven. The driver-assist stuff can still be annoying, the cornering is not as good for sporty drivers, and the sound system could be better with more cabin insulation.

But the 1000-kilometre test drive provided real proof on where the brand is at in the second half of 2026, not about the range but about the cars it’s producing and their genuine appeal in Australia.

BYD SEAL 6 TOURING

Price: from $34,990 driveway
Position: hybrid family station wagon
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder plug-in hybrid
Output: 70kW/120Nm + 163kW/260Nm
Gearbox: single-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Range: 1000km
Safety: 5-star ANCAP

The tick: proof of concept