BYD poised to pass Tesla in 2025 sales

Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world's biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales.

- ELODIE MAZEIN

Electric vehicles for export wait to be loaded on BYD Explorer No.1, at Yantai port in China's Shandong province last year.

(AFP)

The two groups are expected soon to publish their final figures for 2025, and based on sales data so far this year, there is almost no chance the American company led by Elon Musk will retain its leadership position.

At the end of November, Shenzhen-based BYD, which also produces hybrid vehicles, had sold 2.07 million EVs so far in 2025.

Tesla, for its part, had sold 1.22 million by the end of September.

Tesla's September figures included a onetime boost in sales, to nearly half-a-million vehicles in a three-month period, before the expiration of a US tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles — which ended under legislation backed by President Donald Trump, a climate change sceptic.