China’s BYD overtakes Tesla for the first time as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles

Chinese automobile giant BYD dethroned its American rival on Friday Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles on a calendar annual basis.

The milestone crowns a extraordinary increase for BYD, a company that Tesla CEO Elon Musk once dismissed by mocking their products during an interview with Bloomberg in 2011.

In a statement released on Thursday, BYD said sales of its battery cars increased nearly 28% to 2.26 million units.

Musk openly mocked the mention of BYD during an interview on Bloomberg TV in October 2011. He said he did not view the company as a competitor to Tesla, adding, “I don’t think they have a great product.”

Meanwhile, Tesla said As of Friday, it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, in line with the company’s estimate of 1.6 million vehicle deliveries. The annual figure represents a decline of around 8% from 2024, according to the company. second consecutive annual decline.

Deliveries for Q4 2025 was down about 16% than in the fourth quarter of 2024, when Musk’s EV company reported 495,570 deliveries.

Deliveries are the closest approximation of Tesla’s reported sales, but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.

Tesla has had a roller coaster ride this year. The company saw its shares collapse in the first quarter of 2025 amid fierce competition, particularly from Chinese electric vehicle makers, and fallout to Musk’s reputation. inflammatory political rhetoric.

The share price, however, has come back sharply in recent weeks. notch an all-time high of $489.88 last month, after Musk said the company tested driverless vehicles in Austin, Texas, without occupants on board, nearly six months after launching a pilot program with safety drivers.

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.