BYD has usurped Tesla as the world’s largest EV-maker in 2025 by selling a massive 620,585 more electric cars than the US car-maker.
To compound Tesla’s woes its total global sales sank by 8.6 percent compared to 2024 volumes.
BYD sold an incredible 2,256,714 EVs in calender year 2025, with 1,636,129 Teslas finding homes over the same period.
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BYD’s EV total represented a remarkable bump up on the 1,777,965 electric vehicles it sold last year.
If you add in volumes of plug-in hybrids, like the BYD Shark 6 and sales of its commercials, the Chinese car-maker’s total global tally rises to a towering 4,537,356 units.
But behind the scenes BYD execs will be bitterly disappointed they fell a long way short of the 5.5 million publicised target for 2025.
In fact, 2025 represented the slowest rate of growth for BYD Auto since it was founded 22 years ago.
Even though BYD missed its own sky-high expected volumes target, expect China to retain its crown as the world’s largest car-making nation with 27 million sold.
Helping it achieve the top spot, this year Geely is primed to enter the top 10 largest global car-makers for the first time.
China’s climb to the top, selling an estimated two million more cars than Japan is even more incredible considering it has been hit by tariffs designed to impact its exports in both Europe and the US.
According to early data, domestic sales still accounted for 70 per cent of all Chinese-made vehicles, while exports rose to around seven million vehicles.
In Australia, Chinese made car sales exceeded 200,000 for the first time, making up a total of 24 per cent of all vehicles sold in the final 11 months of this year.
Locally, GWM is the highest-selling brand. It is likely to place seventh overall in the total sales chart, with BYD in eighth and MG in 10th when Australian sales figures are released.
Even though the Tesla Model Y remains Australia’s most popular electric vehicle, globally Tesla suffered a sales slump globally in all four quarters of last year.
Increasing competition, an ageing line-up and the unpopularity of politicised Tesla boss Elon Musk are all thought to be factors in the downturn.
While the Model 3 and Model Y accounted for 1,589,279 units of the total 1,636,129 Teslas that found homes last year, just 50,850 units consisted of the ‘other’ vehicles that bundle together the Model S and Model X, plus the Cybertruck.
The total number of wedge-shaped battery-powered utes finding homes has not been released yet but the final figure will be only a fraction of Tesla’s original declaration it would sell 250,000 a year, with the option of scaling up that number to 500,000 annually later.
Now regarded as the firm’s first high-profile flop, its problems include high, pricing, poor quality and reduced towing performance and practicality, compared to a regular truck.
