BYD claims EV crown, pushing Tesla to second
China’s BYD has surpassed Elon Musk’s Tesla to become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has exceeded its American rival in annual sales.
Tesla said on Friday that its global car sales fell by nearly 9% in 2025, with total deliveries reaching 1.64 million vehicles. This decline represents the company’s second consecutive year of falling car sales, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
The figures place Tesla behind BYD, which announced on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered vehicles increased by almost 28% last year, rising to more than 2.25 million units.
Tesla has faced a challenging year, including a mixed response to its newer models, concerns among some consumers over Musk’s political activities, and growing competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.
Tesla's car sales fell 16% during the last three months of 2025. The drop was partly due to the repeal of a government subsidy that had helped knock as much as $7,500 (£5,570) off the price of certain battery electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell vehicles.
Wall Street analysts have recently lowered their Tesla sales estimates for 2026, signalling an increasingly gloomy outlook.
Chinese firms such as Geely, MG, and BYD - now the country's largest electric car company - have put pressure on Western rivals by pricing their vehicles below established brands.
In October, Tesla responded by launching lower-priced versions of its two best selling models in the US in a bid to boost sales.
Musk, who is already the world's richest man, is tasked with significantly boosting Tesla's sales and stock market value over the next decade to secure a record-breaking pay package. The deal, which was approved by shareholders in November, could see him getting a payout of as much as $1tn (£740bn).
As part of the agreement, Musk also has to sell a million humanoid robots over the next ten years. Tesla has invested heavily in its "Optimus" product and self-driving "Robotaxis".
Analysts say Tesla's robotaxi and self-driving rollout in 2026, which has helped send its share price to a record high, will be crucial to its overall performance.
Though there are big questions surrounding Tesla self-driving ambitions, some remain optimistic. Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities says Tesla will own about 70% of the self-driving market over the next decade "as no other company in the world can match the scale and scope" of the firm.
Besides Tesla, Musk's business interests also include the social media platform X, the rocket firm SpaceX and the Boring Company, which digs tunnels.
Those commitments, along with running US President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) early last year, led some investors to suggest that Musk was not focusing enough on Tesla.
Musk has since stepped back from his role in the US government.
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