China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s largest electric car seller | Automotive industry
China’s BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s largest electric car maker in 2025, after the US company led by Elon Musk reported a drop in deliveries at the end of the year.
BYD sold 2.26 million battery-electric cars during the year, far surpassing the 1.63 million deliveries Tesla announced Friday for the same period.
The move is a symbolic moment in the rise of Chinese automakers, who have taken advantage of the transition to electric cars to try to dominate the global auto industry. Chinese car exports have increased in recent years, led by BYD and rivals such as state-owned SAIC and Chery, which runs the Omoda and Jaecoo brands.
Electric car sales have continued to grow over the past two years, but the growth rate has been slower than expected. Electric car makers have been forced to cut prices aggressively and governments around the world have scaled back their targets for moving away from gasoline.
Tesla’s sales appear to have suffered largely from Donald Trump’s withdrawal of electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. The US president also removed emissions regulations that encouraged the production of electric cars. And Tesla also faced backlash from some consumers after Musk embraced far-right politics in late 2024.
Tesla’s deliveries fell to 418,200 in the final quarter of the year, below analysts’ average forecasts. Sales for 2025 are down 9% compared to 2024.
An average compiled by Bloomberg had suggested Tesla would deliver 441,000 vehicles in the quarter, but Tesla took the unusual step before the new year of releasing its own consensus estimate for the first time, apparently in an effort to indicate to investors that sales were expected to be lower.
Tesla’s stock price was down 1% on Friday, after being down 8% since Christmas Eve.
Trump’s anti-EV policies came despite Elon Musk donating more money than anyone to the victorious 2024 presidential election campaign and briefly making efforts to cut government costs. At first, Musk appeared to gain Trump’s support for electric vehicles — and even an awkward photo op in a Tesla in front of the White House — but they fell out considerably over the summer.
This is the second consecutive decline in Tesla’s annual sales. Yet even as its sales have fallen, it remains by far the most valuable automaker in the world, with shares valued at $1.4 trillion, more than the next 30 automakers combined. Investors appear to be betting that Musk will turn Tesla into a leading force in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Musk has always argued that autonomous capabilities would set Tesla apart from its competitors, and he began operating a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. However, it will still face competition on this front. Several Chinese automakers and technology companies already have comparable technology, including an offering from BYD called “God’s Eye” that is now included on even its cheapest cars.
BYD’s electric car sales rose 28% during the year despite a weaker performance in December.
BYD was founded in 1995 as a battery company by Wang Chuanfu, often described as China’s equivalent of Musk. Its activity already produced more cars overall than Tesla when counting hybrids.
The Shenzhen-based automaker has already surpassed Tesla in a single quarter. However, its battery power generation fell away from that of its U.S. rival in 2025, even as it faced intense competition from Chinese rivals.
BYD recorded 4.55 million total car sales in 2025, although its plug-in hybrid sales fell 8% year-on-year to 2.29 million. That came despite an uptick in sales of plug-in hybrids, combining a smaller battery with a gasoline or diesel engine, in some markets from consumers concerned about their ability to recharge. BYD also more than doubled its sales of commercial vehicles, including electric buses and trucks, to 57,000 units.
