The Tamesis
Chinese electric carmaker BYD is expected to solidify its position as the world’s largest seller of electric cars in 2025, thanks to booming overseas sales and a fall by its main rival and former world leader Tesla.
BYD said in a stock filing on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered electric vehicles rose 27.9% to 2.26 million units last year.
Tesla, meanwhile, released analyst forecasts last week saying the automaker would sell about 1.65 million vehicles for the full year, down more than 8% year-over-year. The U.S. electric carmaker will release total sales for 2025 later on Friday.
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Still, the numbers would put BYD on track to overtake Tesla in annual electric vehicle sales for the first time.
Key to this growth will be BYD’s rapid expansion overseas, especially in Europe, where it has grown far faster than Tesla.
BYD’s overseas sales in 2025 will increase to a record 1,046,083 vehicles, an increase of 150.7% from 2024. The company aims to sell up to 1.6 million vehicles outside China by 2026, but has not disclosed overall sales targets.
Numbers in your home tell a different story
The sharp increase in overseas deliveries is part of BYD’s larger efforts to cope with domestic challenges, with its sales growth slowing to 7.73% in 2025, its slowest pace in five years.
In China, the company is grappling with growing local competition and erosion of its technology leadership.
BYD’s total sales fell 18% year-on-year in December, the fourth consecutive month of decline and the largest monthly decline in the past two years.
Full-year sales increased by 7.73% to 4.6 million vehicles, completing the target of significant reductions. BYD has cut its 2025 sales target by 16% due to weak domestic sales since July and challenges from local rivals such as Geely and Leapmo in the budget car segment.
Meanwhile, company chairman Wang Chuanfu said the slowdown in sales was due to the company’s weakening technological leadership
Wang Jianlin said at an investor conference in December that the group would release major innovations in 2026, but did not elaborate on what they would be, Chinese media outlet Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
BYD Delivering advanced autonomous driving These features are available on electric vehicles priced as low as $9,555 in February, with two new features Ultra-fast charging technology March. But its efforts haven’t stopped the company from losing market share to rivals.
BYD slashed prices on more than 20 models in May, triggering a sell-off in Chinese auto industry stocks rare public warning The chairman of rival Great Wall Motor says the world’s largest auto industry is in an unhealthy state.
Then BYD Production slows down and Postponing capacity expansion plans.
In November, BYD told some suppliers it wanted to stop using internal financial notes for payments, a major shift from the approach that fueled its rise but has been criticized for being detrimental to its component makers.
- Vishakha Saxena Additional Editor, Reuters
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Sales of Chinese BYD surge 880% in UK – BBC
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Volkswagen says electric cars are 50% cheaper to make in China – FT
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