Chinese automaker BYD has become the largest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer in the world after overtaking Tesla in 2025. Tesla announced on Friday that global sales of its electric cars fell by almost 9% last year, with a total of 1.64 million vehicles sold. During the same period, BYD, which also makes hybrid cars, reported that sales of its own pure EVs grew by nearly 28% to reach more than 2.25 million units sold. It sold 4.6 million ‘new energy vehicles’ in total, including plug-in hybrids alongside full EVs.
This followed a period of rapid growth for the Chinese company after it expanded its operations into Europe and other overseas markets. Its overall sales growth did slow to its lowest in five years in 2025, however, it faced increasing competition from other Chinese operators in the huge domestic market. Even so, BYD was able to surge ahead into poll position on the global stage – in part due to Tesla’s own continuing troubles.
Tesla EV sales have fallen but it remains the most valuable carmaker
Elon Musk’s flagship automaker has recorded falling sales for the past two years now. Increasing Chinese competition has played a huge part in this, but so has a backlash to Musk’s political activities. Tesla sales in the US also appear to have been hit by US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of EV subsidies. Despite these drops in EV sales, Tesla remains the most valuable carmaker in the world, with investors and shareholders seemingly betting on the company’s much-heralded movements towards still emerging technologies such as AI, robotics and autonomous vehicles, including driverless taxis.
A report from energy think tank Ember revealed that emerging markets were increasingly embracing EVs and overtaking advanced economies such as the US and Japan in terms of market penetration. In 2019, there were just four countries, all located within Europe, with an EV sales share of more than 10% of all vehicle sales. In 2025, there were 39. China remains the biggest EV market, with sales expected to have exceeded 50% for the first time in 2025. Other Asian countries appear to be following suit, with nearly 40% of new cars in Vietnam and more than 40% in Singapore being EVs. Ember described the shift as a major turning point, with emerging markets no longer catching up but leading the switch to electric vehicles.
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