BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s largest EV manufacturer

Although BYD faced challenges in recent months, the Chinese manufacturer became the world's largest electric vehicle producer in 2025. While Tesla's sales figures are not yet fully available, the Chinese competitor has pulled so far ahead that it is now firmly established as the new number one.

In 2025, BYD delivered a total of 4.6 million electric cars and plug-in hybrids (so-called New Energy Vehicles, or NEVs) – representing an increase of approximately 7.7 percent compared to 2024, when it sold 4.25 million NEVs. However, growth has slowed significantly: while BYD achieved a staggering 41 percent increase from 2023 to 2024, it has now recorded only a single-digit gain. Nevertheless, the 2025 result is more than sufficient to dethrone the previous leader, Tesla, in global sales. For this comparison, we are not considering the aforementioned NEVs but solely battery-electric passenger cars (BEVs), of which BYD sold exactly 2,256,714 units last year (+27.9% year-on-year).

Tesla, on the other hand, has had a challenging year. The Texas-based carmaker’s sales declined in many regions during the first half of the year. It was only in the second half that the statistics stabilised. One of the main reasons cited for this weak performance is Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s political engagement in support of US President Donald Trump. The facts are clear: in the first three quarters, Tesla delivered a cumulative total of just 1.22 million BEVs. This means Tesla would need to deliver at least 571,000 vehicles in Q4 to match its full-year 2024 result of 1,789,226 vehicles. This is highly ambitious. Moreover, Tesla would require over one million deliveries in Q4 to match BYD’s BEV figure – which is unrealistic.

Analyst estimates, which Tesla itself published for the first time, instead suggest around 422,850 vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter. This would put the company at approximately 1.64 million units for the year. Clarity is expected soon: Tesla typically releases its production and delivery figures at the beginning of the year.

That the outcome would favour BYD so clearly was not entirely predictable. In 2024, BYD’s BEV sales still lagged slightly behind Tesla’s, although it had already secured a quarterly victory by that time. This milestone made headlines in many media outlets, and BYD subsequently posted record figures. However, even the Chinese manufacturer’s statistics are now showing a downward trend.

As summarised by Puesto CNEV, BYD sold 4.55 million NEV passenger cars in 2025 (+6.9% year-on-year) and 57,013 NEV commercial vehicles (+161.8% year-on-year). The passenger car sales are divided into the aforementioned 2.26 million BEVs (+27.9% year-on-year) and 2.29 million plug-in hybrids (PHEVs, -7.9% year-on-year). This demonstrates that BYD is facing challenges, particularly with its partially electric vehicles. In December, PHEV sales were 26 percent lower than the previous year. As a result, the curve has remained below the 2024 PHEV sales figures for nine consecutive months – despite the year-end period in China traditionally being a strong sales period (unlike the seasonally weak start to the year).

BYD’s BEV passenger car sales in December amounted to 190,712 units, representing an 8 percent decline compared to the previous year and a 20 percent drop compared to November. The trend is clearly downward: when combining BEVs and PHEVs, BYD has recorded declining figures compared to the previous year for the past four months. In December, the total was 420,398 NEVs (-18% year-on-year).

Nevertheless, BYD has reason to hope for renewed growth. Its export figures are soaring in parallel. In December, the company achieved a new record with 133,172 NEV units exported – 133 percent higher than the previous year. For the full year, BYD exported a total of 1.05 million NEVs (+151% year-on-year). Exports are thus becoming an increasingly significant factor for BYD.

Finally, a look at BYD’s battery production. As is well known, the company not only manufactures electric cars and plug-in hybrids but also their batteries. According to Puesto CNEV, BYD’s installations of electric vehicle batteries and stationary storage batteries totalled approximately 285.6 GWh in the past year, representing an increase of nearly 47 percent compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter alone, installations reached 82.4 GWh (+23% year-on-year).

cnevpost.com