Key highlights:
- Sealion 5’s 3-star ANCAP rating breaks BYD’s 5-star streak in Australia
- Crash Protection scores 79%, its strongest assessment area
- Safe Driving and Crash Avoidance remain significant weaknesses
The BYD Sealion 5 has received a 3-star ANCAP safety rating under the new 2026-2028 criteria that apply across both its variants, but its performance varies sharply between assessment areas. The five-seat plug-in hybrid SUV delivered respectable crash protection, while its Safe Driving and Crash Avoidance scores exposed several gaps in its safety equipment and performance.
BYD positions it as the brand’s most affordable vehicle of this type, sitting below the larger and more expensive Sealion 6. BYD opened its Australian order books in late 2025, with the first customer deliveries beginning in early 2026.
With this 3-star rating, the BYD Sealion 5 becomes the first ever BYD model to receive a below-5-star ANCAP rating and broke the brand’s unbroken streak of consecutive five-star local results. The BYD M9’s five-star ANCAP rating, according to the new criteria, was also released alongside Sealion 5’s rating.
Breaking down the ANCAP scores of the BYD Sealion 5
| Assessment | Car Safety Score |
|---|---|
| Safe driving | 48% |
| Crash avoidance | 51% |
| Crash protection | 79% |
| Post-crash | 74% |
Safe Driving – 48%
The Sealion 5 misses several safety functions assessed under ANCAP’s Safe Driving criteria. It cannot detect and classify the stature of front-seat occupants, and monitor seatbelt misuse.
The SUV does have an intelligent seatbelt reminder for all seating positions, but child presence detection is not available.
The driver monitoring system could warn the driver and adjust vehicle sensitivity for several common types of distraction.
Most key driving functions use physical controls. The Sealion 5 did not control its speed accurately enough to receive full points once it identified a speed limit.
Adaptive cruise control performed reasonably, and its steering assistance system also delivered an adequate level of performance.
Crash Avoidance – 51%
The Sealion 5’s autonomous emergency braking (AEB) can detect and react to imminent collisions, but ANCAP identified limitations in some intersection scenarios. Low-speed AEB performance was also limited.
The SUV can warn occupants about an approaching cyclist when they attempt to exit the vehicle.
The lane support system showed limited ability to prevent lane departures, and testing found no vehicle intervention when the Sealion 5 moved towards the road edge.
Crash Protection – 79%
Crash protection was a stronger area for the Sealion 5, although ANCAP found important differences across occupant sizes and crash severities.
Protection was generally good in the full-width frontal test. The Sealion 5 achieved maximum scores for adult and child protection in the side-impact test, but ANCAP applied a penalty for rollover protection.
The Sealion 5 has lower ISOFIX anchorages for the rear outboard seats and top-tether anchorages for all rear seating positions, which all worked well.
Post-Crash – 74%
The SUV does not provide eCall functionality like its stablemate, the BYD M9 MPV.
Multi-collision braking and hazard lights activate after a crash, and it demonstrated appropriate battery-voltage isolation in three of four destructive crash tests.
BYD did not demonstrate that the Sealion 5’s windows would remain functional if the vehicle became submerged in water.
Also read: BYD M9 earns 5-star ANCAP rating under new 2026–2028 rules
Standard safety equipment of the BYD Sealion 5
The BYD Sealion 5 carries a long list of standard active and passive safety features baseline across both variants:
- 7 airbags (dual front, front-side, full-length side curtains, front-centre)
- ISOFIX system for outer rear seats
- Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
- Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
- Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB): Includes vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist detection capabilities.
- Lane-Keep Assist and Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
- Blind-Spot Monitoring (BSD) and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA)
- Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Rear Collision Warning (RCW)
- Door Opening Warning
- Traffic Sign Recognition
- Automatic High Beam
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Traction Control System (TCS)
- Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA) and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
- Hill Hold Control (HHC) and Hill Descent Control (HDC)
- Electronic Parking Brake with Auto-Hold function
- Rear Parking Sensors
- Baseline rear-view camera
What does ANCAP say about the BYD Sealion 5?
Its crash testing showed respectable protection for adult and child occupants, but the biggest limitations sit in Crash Avoidance and Safe Driving.
The Sealion 5 did not intervene during emergency lane-keeping road-edge testing. It also does not have the child presence detection system.
ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said, “BYD is leaving a noticeable mark on the Australian and New Zealand new car markets, quickly rising to become Australia’s second highest-selling brand since its arrival in 2022.”
“Since then BYD has been, and continues to be, proactive in bringing forward models for ANCAP testing. However, the Sealion 5 was a model the brand hadn’t actively pursued for testing, and was subsequently selected by ANCAP to ensure consumers have a clear picture of its safety performance.”
“Both the M9 and Sealion 5 have been tested against our latest 2026-2028 star rating requirements. These requirements continue to encourage balanced safety performance across all four stages of assessment, with the Sealion 5 not able to match the safety offering of its stablemate.”
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