BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s top EV seller
BYD has finally pulled ahead of Elon Musk’s Tesla, becoming the world’s top seller of electric vehicles. It’s the first time BYD has outsold its American rival over a full year. Tesla’s numbers took a hit in 2025, dropping nearly 9% to 1.64 million cars sold worldwide. That’s two years in a row of falling deliveries. BYD, on the other hand, saw its battery-powered car sales jump almost 28% to more than 2.25 million. Tesla’s year hasn’t been easy. Some new models got a lukewarm reception, and Musk’s political antics haven’t helped. Meanwhile, Chinese competitors are coming on strong. In the last quarter of 2025 alone, Tesla’s sales fell 16%. Part of that drop came after the government axed a subsidy that used to shave up to $7,500 off the price of certain electric cars.
Wall Street isn’t feeling optimistic either. Analysts have slashed their Tesla sales forecasts for 2026, hinting at darker days ahead.
Companies like Geely, MG, and especially BYD are turning up the heat, offering EVs for less than the big Western brands can manage. Tesla tried to fight back in October by launching cheaper versions of its two top-selling models in the U.S. The goal? Spark some life into sales. But Musk has more than sales to worry about. To unlock a record-breaking pay deal—potentially $1 trillion, if you can believe it—he needs to massively grow both Tesla’s sales and its value over the next decade. That’s not all, the plan also calls for selling a million humanoid robots in ten years. Tesla’s poured a fortune into its Optimus robot and self-driving Robotaxis. Some say the company’s robotaxi rollout in 2026 could be make-or-break, especially since those announcements have already sent Tesla’s stock price soaring.
There are still big doubts about how far Tesla can really push self-driving tech, but some, like Dan Ives at Wedbush, think Tesla will end up controlling most of the market. He’s betting the company will own about 70% of self-driving cars over the next decade, arguing no one else can match Tesla’s scale. Musk’s plate is overflowing. Besides Tesla, he owns the social platform X, rocket-maker SpaceX, and the Boring Company, which digs tunnels. Oh, and he even ran the Department of Government Efficiency under President Trump last year.
No wonder some investors worry he’s spread too thin. Musk has since stepped back from government work, but questions linger. BYD’s been on a tear, but even its sales growth slowed in 2025, hitting its weakest pace in five years.
Competition in China is brutal, after all. And while BYD now sells more cars, Tesla still makes more money per vehicle. Still, BYD is a force. Its low prices keep rivals on their toes, and the company’s expanding fast in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe—despite steep tariffs facing Chinese EVs. In October, BYD said the UK was now its biggest market outside China, with sales there jumping a staggering 880% over the year, thanks mostly to strong demand for the plug-in hybrid Seal U SUV.
