BYD Files All-New Seagull: The Next-Gen Atto 1 Grows Up

BYD has lodged the paperwork for a Seagull that’s 425mm longer, finally seats five, and adds a genuine sensor suite to the country’s cheapest EV. This is what the next Atto 1 looks like on paper.

BYD has filed regulatory documents in China for an entirely new generation of the Seagull, the car Australians know as the Atto 1. The filing landed with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on 10 July, as reported by CnEVPost, and it shows a car that’s grown up in almost every dimension that matters.

Two battery-electric variants were submitted. Both measure 4,205mm long, 1,810mm wide and 1,570mm tall, riding on a 2,650mm wheelbase and seating five. Against the model currently on sale, that’s 425mm more length and 150mm more wheelbase, a substantial jump for a car in this class.

The extra size pushes the new Seagull to within roughly 75mm of BYD’s own Dolphin, a car that currently sits a full segment above it, both in China and in Australia.

From four seats to five

Australia’s Atto 1 is a four-seat city car, a deliberate call BYD made to keep pricing sharp and packaging simple. The filing documents list the all-new Seagull as a proper five-seater, closing off the most common complaint levelled at the current car.

A fifth seat, even a tight one, turns the Atto 1 from a strict two-up commuter into something that can handle family duty on weekends. It’s a small line in a regulatory filing that will matter a great deal to buyers cross-shopping this car against a Swift or a Picanto.

More power and a proper sensor suite

Both filed variants use a permanent magnet synchronous motor producing 95kW, up from 55kW in the outgoing model. Top speed is listed at 150km/h and as always, will be fitted with a BYD LFP Blade Battery.

Kerb weight comes in at 1,180kg for the base version and 1,255kg for the higher-spec model. That heavier variant is the keep an eye on (in China at least) as it can be optioned with LiDAR plus front, rear and side radar, a sensor suite well beyond anything BYD currently fits to this nameplate.

BYD introduced LiDAR to the Seagull for the first time back in May, on the current 2026 model’s optional God’s Eye B system, making it the first A-class mini EV in China to get the tech. This new filing goes further again, adding a full radar array on top of it. LiDAR is clearly no longer a feature BYD reserves for its pricier models, and it’s now trickling down to what remains the cheapest car in the company’s global range.

Sharper design, inside and out

The filing images show a reworked front end, with sharper creases and narrow, polygonal headlights replacing the current car’s softer look. Semi-hidden door handles tidy up the profile, and the rear gets inverted-trapezoidal taillights with the BYD lettering set into the light bar itself.

Why the growth spurt, and why now

The Seagull has been one of China’s best-selling EVs, with more than 529,000 units sold in 2025 alone and over 1.45 million accumulated since its April 2023 launch. This year has been rougher: first-half 2026 sales are down 42.6% year-on-year and June alone fell more than 51%.

Much of that pressure traces back to Geely’s Xingyuan, a rival city car that outsold the Seagull roughly three to one in June and has become one of the segment’s dominant players. The new Seagull’s 2,650mm wheelbase matches the Xingyuan’s to the millimetre, which tells you precisely which car BYD had in its sights when it drew up this generation.

What it means for the Atto 1

BYD hasn’t confirmed pricing or a launch date even for China and a completed filing is no guarantee of when, or if, a market the size of Australia’s sees this exact generation. The Atto 1 only landed in Australian showrooms in November 2025 and it remains the country’s cheapest EV at $23,990 plus on-road costs for the Essential, ahead of newer arrivals like the GAC Aion UT (from $30,990 drive-away) and BYD’s own Dolphin (from $32,698.90 drive-away).

It also sits at the bottom of a BYD Australia lineup that now runs through the Dolphin, Atto 2, Atto 3, Seal and Sealion 7. A bigger, five-seat, better-equipped Atto 1 would slot far more comfortably into that range than the current car does. Whenever this next-generation Seagull does reach local showrooms wearing an Atto 1 badge, it arrives with a legitimate case for a modest price rise to match the bigger body and the added tech, though BYD’s record on keeping this nameplate affordable suggests it won’t stretch far.

Expect more detail to emerge as BYD works this car through China’s launch process over the next few months, with a domestic reveal tipped for the September quarter.