By Barbara Kollmeyer
Practitioners perform martial art next to a BYD Sealion 7 electric vehicle (EV) by Chinese car manufacturer BYD on display at Singapore Motorshow in Singapore on Jan. 9, 2025. BYD sales are set to surpass Tesla's globally for 2025.
Chinese automaker BYD became the biggest global seller of battery-powered vehicles last year, according to figures released on Friday.
Reporting unaudited numbers on Jan. 1, BYD (CN:002594) said sales of battery electric vehicles rose 27% last year to 2.25 million, with plug-in hybrid electric cars sales falling 7% to 2.25 million. BYD sold a total of 4.6 million new energy vehicles in the year, a 7.7% gain on 2024. Its shares (HK:1211) rose 3.5% in Hong Kong on Friday.
On Friday, Tesla (TSLA) said it sold 1.63 million vehicles in 2025, below the 1.78 million it delivered in 2024, the company's second straight annual drop. Between October and December, Tesla said it delivered 418,227 vehicles, below the 440,000 expected from Wall Street.
Tesla has faced stiff competition in China from BYD and Xiaomi (HK:1810), with its deliveries in the country down by more than 8% through November.
Read: Meet the best non-Tesla EV stocks of 2025
Shares of Tesla rose 1.3% on Friday, with the tech sector COMP broadly looking stronger. The stock rose 18% in 2025.
Last year saw Chief Executive Elon Musk rankle investors with his involvement in U.S. politics. European buyers shunned his cars, with deliveries in the region down nearly 39% through November. On Friday, Spain reported new Tesla registrations fell 44% annually in December, versus a 137% gain for BYD sales, according to data from the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers, or ANFAC .
BYD shares, though, gained just 3.7% last year as it faces a tougher domestic market and rising competition.
The EV maker also lost a big champion this year as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ended its investment in the Chinese automaker that began in 2008. Its shares never recovered from a high seen last May.
According to automotive analysis group Autovista24, BYD held the lead for EV sales in the first half of this year, with a 19.9% share of the global EV market, versus 7.5% for Tesla.
Read: A humanoid-robot revolution is coming. Don't worry - here's why it will take a while.
-Barbara Kollmeyer
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
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<p>BYD has overtaken Tesla as the top seller of electric vehicles globally, with sales of battery electric vehicles rising 27% to 2.25 million in 2025. In contrast, Tesla's sales fell to 1.63 million, marking a second consecutive annual decline. BYD's total new energy vehicle sales reached 4.6 million, while Tesla's deliveries in China dropped over 8%. Despite BYD's growth, its shares gained only 3.7% last year amid increasing competition and the exit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway from its investment.</p>

- BYD sold 2.25 million battery electric vehicles in 2025, becoming the largest global seller of such vehicles, surpassing Tesla's sales of 1.63 million.  
- Despite a 7% drop in plug-in hybrid sales, BYD's total new energy vehicle sales rose 7.7% to 4.6 million, with shares gaining 3.5%.  
- Tesla faced declining sales in Europe and increased competition in China, leading to a significant drop in deliveries and a dip in investor confidence.

BYD overtakes Tesla to become top seller of electric vehicles - and the gap is big