More than 1600 new BYD vehicles parked at a family fun park south of Sydney in New South Wales have got locals up in arms about what’s been alleged to be an illegal storage operation, but their ownership appears a mystery.
As reported by News.com.au, the rows upon rows of brand-new BYD vehicles – including its best-selling plug-in hybrid Shark 6 dual-cab ute and Sealion 7 electric SUV – stored at Jamberoo Action Park, around 90 minutes’ drive south of Sydney, started appearing in August while the park was closed for winter.
Why the area has been chosen to store a significant batch of new vehicles remains unknown, but several automakers have established temporary vehicle storage sites to house excess stock across the country – including in the NSW Hunter Valley – in recent times.
Now, with the Jamberoo venue set to reopen to the public as the summer season approaches, its parking areas are still brimming with new BYDs fresh from arriving at nearby Port Kembla ahead of their delivery to BYD dealers.
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The park is located in a region governed by the Kiama Municipal Council, which told News.com.au the vehicles were not legally permitted to be stored there.
“Kiama Council is aware that the Jamberoo Action Park car park and overflow parking areas are being used to store a significant number of new vehicles,” News.com.au reported.
“Council’s Compliance Officers have inspected the site and issued notices to the property owners of the action park.”
The property owners lodged a Development Application (DA) to rectify the situation, however, the vehicles appear set to remain at the venue for now, given they cannot be legally relocated without a DA.
The DA requested a “change of use and new structure – car park and passenger transport facility” to enable the BYDs to be stored legally.
BYD Australia was approached by CarExpert but would not offer any comment in addition to the same statement it provided News.com.au.
“In New South Wales, BYD’s vehicle storage is managed by a storage and logistics partner, who oversee a number of locations in the Port Kembla and surrounding regions,” the company said.
BYD took over the importation and distribution of its vehicles in Australia on July 1, 2025, with former independent distributor EVDirect remaining a dealer partner for the Chinese auto brand.
It signed a five-year deal with Australia’s largest auto dealer group, Eagers Automotive Limited, in a new retail joint venture called the EV Dealer Group.
CarExpert has also approached Eagers for comment on the matter but we’re yet to receive a response.
According to Cox Automotive, one in seven new vehicles sold in Australia in the first half of 2025 was sold through Eagers.
In June 2025, BYD was the first Chinese brand to post a top-five sales result in Australia, and it has ambitions to become a top-three brand in this market as soon as 2026.
Australia’s oldest Chinese auto brand GWM, which set up shop here in 2009 and is also the best-selling Chinese brand Down Under so far this year, recently described BYD’s rapid local growth as “too aggressive”.
Next month, BYD Australia will launch the BYD Atto 1 electric hatch – which it promises will be the cheapest EV in the country – as well as the Atto 2 small electric SUV, and the mid-size Sealion 5 and large Sealion 8 plug-in hybrid SUVs.
BYD will also officially launch its Denza premium brand locally in November, with two large plug-in hybrid off-road SUVs – the Denza B5 and Denza B8.
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