BEIJING, China – China’s electric vehicle giant BYD is on track to surpass Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s largest seller of battery-powered cars, marking a major shift in the global EV market and underscoring the growing dominance of Chinese automakers.
BYD said on Thursday that sales of its fully electric vehicles jumped by nearly 28 per cent last year to more than 2.25 million units.
The figure puts the Shenzhen-based firm comfortably ahead of Tesla, which analysts estimate sold about 1.65 million vehicles over the same period.
Tesla is expected to publish its official 2025 sales figures later on Friday, but the preliminary estimates suggest the American carmaker has lost its long-held global lead in EV sales.
The milestone comes after a challenging year for Tesla, marked by mixed reactions to new vehicle launches, intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers and mounting unease among investors over Musk’s political engagements.
Chinese brands including BYD, Geely and MG have rapidly expanded their global footprint, leveraging aggressive pricing strategies that undercut many Western rivals.
BYD, now China’s largest electric carmaker, has been at the forefront of this push, offering a broad range of lower-cost EV models that have gained traction across Asia, Europe and other emerging markets.
Tesla has sought to defend its market share by cutting prices. In October, the company rolled out cheaper versions of its two best-selling models in the United States in a bid to reignite demand amid slowing sales growth.
The pressure on Tesla has been compounded by controversy surrounding Musk’s role in US politics.
Sales dipped sharply in the first quarter of 2025 following backlash against his involvement in President Donald Trump’s administration, where Musk was appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency.
Some investors have questioned whether Musk’s expanding portfolio of responsibilities — which includes overseeing SpaceX, the social media platform X, the Boring Company, and Tesla’s ambitious robotics and autonomous driving projects — has distracted him from the core car business.
Despite the challenges, Tesla is pursuing an aggressive long-term strategy. Musk recently secured shareholder approval for a potentially record-breaking pay package that could be worth up to $1 trillion if ambitious performance targets are met.
These include sharply boosting Tesla’s market value, scaling up sales and delivering a million humanoid robots over the next decade through its Optimus project, alongside the rollout of self-driving Robotaxis.
In recent weeks, Musk has sought to reassure investors, pledging to significantly scale back his role in government to refocus on Tesla as competition in the global EV race intensifies.
