Tesla falls. BYD overtakes the American giant and becomes the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer

In 2025, BYD sold 2.25 million electric vehicles, compared to Tesla’s 1.64 million.

Chinese automaker BYD has overtaken American company Tesla to become the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles. According to data released by Tesla, its sales in 2025 fell by nearly 9% to 1.64 million units. BYD, meanwhile, reported a nearly 28% increase in electric vehicle sales last year, exceeding 2.25 million units. This means BYD not only surpassed Tesla but outperformed it by almost 40%.

BYD’s success is primarily driven by strong sales in its domestic market, while exports are also growing rapidly. From January to November, BYD exported 878,000 vehicles in total. Overall annual sales of BYD reached 4.55 million vehicles.