BYD Shark Earns Five-Star Euro NCAP Rating, With an Airbag Caveat
BYD highlighted a five-star Euro NCAP result for its Shark plug-in hybrid pickup on October 16, 2026, linking the safety announcement to the truck’s Paris Motor Show appearance and planned place in its European range. The headline is positive, but buyers should also read the assessment’s airbag caveat and test-year details.
What the five-star result covers
The Euro NCAP assessment, published October 12, carries a 2025 rating year. It draws on ANCAP’s 2025 results plus additional Euro NCAP tests, rather than representing an entirely new 2026 test programme. The listed test vehicle is a left-hand-drive Shark PHEV weighing 2,710 kg.
| Assessment area | Score |
|---|---|
| Adult occupant protection | 82% |
| Child occupant protection | 86% |
| Vulnerable road users | 74% |
| Safety assist | 87% |
The airbag qualification matters
Euro NCAP reports that a side curtain airbag did not deploy correctly. Dummy readings were unaffected, but both side-impact tests received a penalty. Its assessment says BYD is working on an updated airbag cover; it does not establish that the change is already fitted to customer vehicles.
The passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal offset test. However, the assessment also found the Shark an aggressive impact partner in a frontal collision—a reminder that protection inside a heavy pickup and its effect on another vehicle are separate questions.
What shoppers should check
The October 16 BYD announcement says sales in selected markets will start within three months, with a wider European rollout planned for the first half of 2027. These are manufacturer plans, not specific country launch dates or confirmed customer deliveries; the release supplies no country-specific pricing. It does not establish U.S. availability.
BYD says the DMO, or Dual Mode Off-road, powertrain combines two electric motors and a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, with a 32.2-kWh battery. Claimed system output is 436 PS, or about 430 hp, and 650 Nm of torque. These are manufacturer specifications, not Chiefs Review test measurements.
Before ordering, ask the local distributor which specification the rating covers and whether the airbag-cover update applies to that vehicle. A crash-test rating is not a recall notice or a guarantee of identical equipment in every market. Chiefs Review has not driven or independently tested the Shark.
Follow our Recalls & Safety coverage for official safety developments and Trucks & SUVs coverage for related product news.
Sources and archive photo
Sources: Euro NCAP’s assessment, published October 12, 2026, and BYD’s manufacturer announcement dated October 16, 2026, linked above.
Archive image: a 2025 BYD Shark 6 photographed in Harris Park, New South Wales, Australia, on January 26, 2026. It is not the Euro NCAP test vehicle and does not establish European trim details. Photo: LuvsMG481 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; resized for display.
