Ford vs BYD: The Ship War That WA Buyers Should Actually Care About

If you've been watching the new car market lately, you'll have seen the headlines about BYD sailing a ship loaded with 5,000 vehicles toward Australian shores. Ford's response? Essentially, been there, done that — and WA buyers should pay attention to why both sides are talking so loudly.

Ford Says It's Nothing New — And They've Got a Point

Ford Australia's marketing director Ambrose Henderson didn't mince words when asked about the BYD ship story, calling it "part PR, part sensationalisation." His argument has some merit. Ford has already leased two car-carrying vessels for three years to shuttle Rangers and Everests from Thailand directly to Australian ports — including Fremantle, which is the gateway for most new vehicles landing in WA.

"All those two boats do is go between Thailand and Australia delivering Rangers and Everests," Henderson said. "We do more than 5,000 cars coming out of Thailand every month."

For WA buyers, this matters. Long wait times on popular utes have been a genuine frustration in recent years. Ford's dedicated shipping arrangement was a direct response to that, and if you've ordered a Ranger or Everest lately, those leased vessels are part of the reason you're not waiting as long as buyers were in 2021 and 2022.

BYD's Fleet Is a Bigger Deal Than Ford Wants to Admit

Here's where Ford's dismissal gets a little thin. BYD didn't just lease a couple of ships — the Chinese brand spent roughly AUD$1.03 billion to purchase eight roll-on, roll-off car carriers outright. That's around AUD$128.5 million per vessel, and they own them permanently. The BYD Zhengzhou, currently making its way to Australia with close to 5,000 vehicles on board, is just one of that fleet.

BYD's stated goal is to deliver 30,000 vehicles to Australia across May and June alone. For context, that's an enormous volume in a market where WA buyers are already seeing BYD showrooms pop up in Perth's northern and southern suburbs at a rapid clip.

Owning your logistics infrastructure versus renting it is a meaningful long-term advantage. It gives BYD far more control over supply, timing, and cost — which can ultimately translate to sharper pricing at dealerships.

The Bigger Question for WA Buyers: Emissions Costs on the Horizon

The ship debate is really just noise around a much more consequential shift. Australia's new vehicle efficiency standard is tightening each year, and Ford's reliance on diesel-powered Rangers and Everests — which account for nearly 90 per cent of its local sales volume — puts it in an increasingly difficult spot.

Ford's diesel 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre V6 Ranger and Everest variants will start accruing CO2 penalty costs under the new rules. Car makers have already flagged they'll pass some of those costs onto buyers as price rises. If you're in regional WA and you depend on a diesel dual-cab for work or weekend runs to the Pilbara or the South West, that's a real cost consideration in the next few years.

Ford does offer a Ranger PHEV, and the heavy-duty Super Duty range sits in a weight class that's exempt from the CO2 rules. But the overwhelming majority of what Ford sells here is standard diesel, and the brand knows it needs to pivot.

BYD, meanwhile, arrives with an inherently lower CO2 burden across its lineup — which gives it a structural advantage as the emissions rules bite harder.

Henderson acknowledged the pressure directly: "There's a new wave of competitors coming. Of course, we are assessing what they are doing."

Ford has survived two world wars, the GFC, and COVID. It's a fair point. But WA buyers shopping for a ute or SUV right now shouldn't wait for that pivot — compare what's actually available, what the running costs look like with WA fuel prices factored in, and what the wait time is before signing anything.