China’s BYD poised to overtake Tesla as world’s largest seller of electric vehicles

China’s BYD is set to overtake Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has overtaken its US rival in annual sales.

THURSDAY, World says that sales of its battery cars increased last year by almost 28% to more than 2.25 million.

Tesla, which is due to reveal its 2025 sales totals on Friday, last week released analyst estimates suggesting it sold about 1.65 million vehicles for the full year.

The American company has had a difficult year with a mixed reception to the new offersuncomfortable Musk’s political activities and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.

In October, Tesla presented cheaper versions of its two best-selling models in the United States in an effort to boost sales. It had been criticized for being slow to offer new, more affordable options to remain competitive.

Musk, who is already the richest man in the worldis tasked with dramatically increasing Tesla’s sales and stock value over the next decade in order to secure record compensation. The deal, which was approved by shareholders in November, could see it receive a payment of up to $1 trillion (£740 billion).

As part of the deal, Musk must also sell one million humanoid robots over the next ten years. Tesla has invested heavily in its “Optimus” product and its autonomous “Robotaxis”.

Tesla sales fell in the first three months of 2025, after a backlash against Musk’s role in US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Besides Tesla, the multi-billionaire’s business interests also include social media platform X, rocket company SpaceX and tunnel-digging Boring Company.

These commitments, along with Trump’s handling of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), have led some investors to suggest that Musk was not focusing enough on Tesla.

Since then Musk committed to “significantly” reduce its role within the American government.

Despite BYD’s rapid expansion in recent years, its sales growth slowed in 2025 to its lowest rate in five years.

The Shenzhen-based company faces growing competition in China, its key market, from a wave of electric vehicle makers like XPeng and Nio.

BYD nevertheless remains a global power in the electric vehicle sector, as its prices are often lower than those of competing automakers.

The company rapid expansion – notably in Latin America, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe – comes despite many countries imposing high tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

In October, BYD said the UK had become its largest market outside of China. The company said its sales in Britain jumped 880% in the year to the end of September, driven by strong demand for the plug-in hybrid version of its Seal U sports utility vehicle (SUV).