Chinese automaker BYD has overtaken Tesla to become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles in 2025, marking a major shift in the global EV market.
BYD announced on Thursday that sales of its battery-electric vehicles rose by nearly 28% in 2025, reaching 2.26 million units. The strong growth highlights the company’s expanding global footprint and increasing demand for its electric models.
In contrast, Tesla reported on Friday that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles during the same period. This represents an 8% decline compared to 2024 and marks Tesla’s second consecutive year of falling annual deliveries.
The slowdown was particularly evident in the fourth quarter of 2025. Tesla’s deliveries during the final three months of the year dropped by around 16% year over year, down from 495,570 vehicles in the same quarter of 2024.
BYD’s rise is especially striking given how the company was once viewed by Tesla’s leadership. In an October 2011 interview with Bloomberg TV, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed BYD as a serious rival. At the time, Musk laughed off the comparison and said he did not consider BYD a competitor, adding that he did not believe the company had a strong product.
More than a decade later, BYD’s position at the top of global EV sales underscores how dramatically the competitive landscape has changed.
