BYD M9 confirmed for Australia – sub-Denza D9 PHEV MPV, 145 km WLTP EV, 850 km total; Malaysia also?

Having swept the luxury MPV market with the Denza D9, BYD is now looking to infiltrate the lower reaches with the M9, which has now been confirmed for right-hand-drive markets such as Australia. Known as the Xia in China, the people mover is solely available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, rather than being an EV first as is the case with its larger sibling.

That powertrain is the company’s fifth-generation Dual Mode Intelligent (DM-i) system, with a 1.5 litre turbo four-cylinder helping to juice the front electric motor. Output figures have yet to be announced, but they should mirror those in China, where the motor makes 272 PS and 315 Nm of torque, supported by a 156 PS/225 Nm engine.

What has been announced are the battery sizes – the Dynamic trim uses a 20.39 kWh Blade LFP unit, while the Premium upgrades to a 36.6 kWh pack. So equipped, the M9 is able to offer up to 145 km of WLTP-rated EV range, contributing to a combined 850 km. The car supports both DC (likely 41 kW for the Dynamic and 73 kW for the Premium as per China) and AC charging (should be 7 kW as standard) and offers a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function.

It may be smaller than the D9, but the M9 isn’t exactly what you’d call tiny, measuring 5,145 mm long, 1,970 mm wide and 1,805 mm tall, with a 3,045 mm wheelbase. For those counting, that’s 105 mm shorter, ten millimetres wider and 115 mm lower than the D9, with the wheelbase being 65 mm shorter.

Squint and the M9 does a reasonable impression of a budget D9 (because that’s basically what it is), with an upright body, big, toothy full-height grille, sail-like D-pillars and lashings of silver trim. At the front, you get the “Dynasty” face with the BYD logo set on a full-width silver bar, joining the slim headlights.

The rear end, meanwhile, receives full-width taillights with cascading S-shaped graphics. The 18-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels, while small, are the same size as what you get on the Denza, so you’re not losing out there.

Inside, you get a rather imposing dashboard design with a swathe of gloss black panelling and fillets of silver decor, although the brown and white colour scheme does lift the atmosphere considerably. The tech includes a 12.3-inch instrument display and a 15.6-inch infotainment touchscreen, with a 26-inch head-up display also on offer.

From launch in Australia, the M9 will only be offered as the seven-seater Premium with plush second-row captain’s chairs; the eight-seater Dynamic will be made available at a later date. The first and second rows come with heating and ventilation, with those at the back also getting built-in ottomans and one-touch “zero gravity” reclining function. Even with all seats up, BYD is claiming 470 litres of boot space.

Safety-wise, the M9 will be made available with up to nine airbags, a 360-degree camera system, eight ultrasonic sensors and five radar sensors – the latter enabling a suite of driver assists. The car will enter showrooms Down Under in the fourth quarter of the year.

Together with the Europe-only D9 DM-i and the new Indonesian-market M6 DM, BYD now has plug-in hybrid MPVs in practically every market sector. With the M9 soon to make it to Australia, we could very well see it coming to Malaysia right after, although it being a CBU import (there doesn’t appear to be any movement in the company’s CKD plans), it certainly won’t come cheap. Still, would you like to see this here?