In 2011, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD as a competitor. But some 14 years later, BYD beat the American EV pioneer at its own game.
The Chinese car giant has overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest seller of EVs, according to 2025 data released by the two rivals this week.
BYD announced Thursday that it had sold 2.26 million EVs, up nearly 28% from 2024. Meanwhile, Tesla reported Friday a second straight year of declining sales: Deliveries fell 8.6% to only 1.6 million, recording the biggest annual drop in the company’s history.
BYD was able to overtake Tesla even though its EVs are not available for purchase in America, while China is Tesla’s second-largest market.
In the fourth quarter, Tesla’s sales came in at about 418,000, down 15.6% from a year earlier and an even sharper decline from record global sales in the third quarter, when American motorists were rushing to buy EVs before a $7,500 tax credit expired on October 1.
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