China’s BYD is set to overtake Elon Musk-led Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles, marking a historic shift in global EV leadership.
BYD said on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered vehicles climbed by nearly 28 per cent in 2025 to more than 2.25 million units. Tesla, which is expected to publish its full-year sales figures later on Friday, has projected deliveries of about 1.65 million vehicles, based on analysts’ estimates released last week.
The milestone underscores growing pressure on Tesla, which endured a challenging year marked by mixed reactions to new models, intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers and concerns among investors about Musk’s political engagements.
In October, Tesla rolled out lower-priced versions of its two best-selling models in the United States in an effort to revive demand, following criticism that it had been slow to introduce more affordable options in a rapidly evolving market.
Musk, already the world’s richest individual, faces the task of significantly expanding Tesla’s sales and market value over the next decade to unlock a record-breaking compensation package approved by shareholders in November. The deal could earn him up to $1 trillion and includes ambitious targets such as selling one million humanoid robots and scaling Tesla’s Optimus and Robotaxi projects.
Tesla’s sales dipped in early 2025 amid backlash over Musk’s role in US President Donald Trump’s administration, prompting concerns that his involvement across multiple ventures including X, SpaceX and the Boring Company was diluting his focus on the EV maker. Musk has since pledged to scale back his government role.
Despite its strong performance, BYD also faced headwinds in 2025, recording its slowest sales growth in five years due to rising competition in China from EV makers such as XPeng and Nio.
Nevertheless, the Shenzhen-based automaker continues to strengthen its global footprint, often undercutting rivals on price and expanding rapidly across Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe, even as several countries impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
In October, BYD said the United Kingdom had become its largest market outside China, with sales surging 880 per cent year-on-year, driven largely by demand for the plug-in hybrid version of its Seal U SUV.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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