Many visitors to the Auto Shanghai 2025 remarked that, at first glance, BYD’s new SUV, the Sea Lion 06, looked like a Genesis.
From the headlights to the front fascia and interior layout, the vehicle closely resembles the Genesis GV60. Yet its actual price is around 21,360 USD, roughly half that of the GV60, sparking a growing controversy over what many are calling a budget clone car.
The Sea Lion 6 is built on BYD’s newly developed e-Platform 3.0 Evo. But before its technical specs, what grabs attention is its strikingly familiar design.
The front end is nearly identical to the recently facelifted Genesis GV60. The signature two-line LE. Experts say the headlight layout and overall silhouette are so similar that average consumers would struggle to tell the difference.
That said, there are differences in body shape. While the GV60 adopts a coupe-style SUV form, the Sea Lion 6 uses a more upright, traditional SUV silhouette, resulting in better interior space utilization. At the rear, the Sea Lion 6 incorporates wide taillamps evolved from another BYD model, the Seal, and features a curved light bar reminiscent of Bentley styling.
Inside the cabin, the distinctions blur even more. The 15.6-inch central display and floating center console are trending features in Chinese EVs, but their layout and material choices evoke a Genesis-like atmosphere.
Even though the Sea Lion 6 is offered in two versions — pure electric and plug-in hybrid — the exterior design remains exactly the same. Even the wheels are identical across both variants, making it nearly impossible to distinguish which version you’re looking at based on appearance alone. BYD has chosen this strategy to maximize manufacturing efficiency and reduce costs.
With an overall length of 4,810 mm and a wheelbase of 2,820 mm, the Sea Lion 6 is larger than the Tesla Model Y and Genesis GV60. Within BYD’s lineup, it ranks just below the higher-end Sea Lion 7, but the difference in body length is a mere 20 mm—making them effectively the same class.
The expected price of the Sea Lion 6 in the Chinese market is between 160,000 CNY and 200,000 CNY or approximately 22,150 USD to 27,700 USD. That’s about 40% cheaper than a Genesis GV60 or Tesla Model Y.
BYD’s strategy of offering mass-market vehicles with luxury-car aesthetics goes beyond mimicry — it reflects a carefully calculated move to expand market share.
With ambitions to expand into Europe and other global markets, BYD’s approach could become a major disruptor in the increasingly competitive EV landscape.
