SHENZHEN, China — BYD delivered about 2.26 million battery-electric passenger vehicles worldwide in 2025, topping Tesla’s 1.636 million deliveries and taking the year’s No. 1 spot in all-electric sales. The crossover reflects BYD’s scale in China and an expanding export push as Tesla faces softer demand and sharper competition, Jan. 3, 2026.
BYD’s 2025 lead: the numbers behind the crossover
The headline numbers come straight from company disclosures. In a Hong Kong exchange filing, BYD reported 2,256,714 battery-electric passenger vehicles sold in 2025, up 27.86% from 2024. Plug-in hybrid sales totaled 2,288,709, meaning BYD’s passenger new energy vehicle mix was close to an even split between battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models for the year. Including commercial vehicles, BYD reported total new energy vehicle sales of 4,602,436 in 2025; it said the production and sales figures are unaudited and may be adjusted.
Tesla reported 1,636,129 vehicle deliveries in 2025, including 1,585,279 Model 3 and Model Y deliveries, in its investor relations release. For the fourth quarter alone, Tesla reported 418,227 deliveries.
Put together, BYD finished 2025 ahead by 620,585 battery-electric vehicles — a lead of roughly 621,000 — while Tesla’s total reflects only battery-electric models. The comparison is also narrower than BYD’s overall business: the company sells a large mix of plug-in hybrids, and its battery-electric tally is for passenger vehicles.
What changed for BYD and Tesla
Both brands entered 2025 under pressure from an industry-wide price squeeze. A Reuters report said global EV sales rose 28% in 2025, even as Tesla’s deliveries fell about 8.6% for the year, its second consecutive annual drop. The report pointed to intensifying competition — especially in Europe — and shifting incentives as headwinds for Tesla, while noting BYD’s sales outside China reached 1 million vehicles in 2025 and that the automaker has said it aims to sell as many as 1.6 million vehicles outside China in 2026.
The filings also show a year with uneven monthly momentum. BYD’s December sales included 190,712 battery-electric passenger vehicles and 420,398 total new energy vehicles for the month, both down from a year earlier, even as full-year battery-electric sales rose sharply.
A rivalry years in the making
For BYD, winning the annual battery-electric crown is the latest step in a longer shift toward electrification and scale. In early 2024, Reuters reported that BYD outsold Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023, handing over 526,409 vehicles in the quarter to Tesla’s 484,507 — a sign that the gap was already closing.
And well before the current sales race, BYD outlined its direction shift: In a 2022 company release, BYD said it discontinued production of gas-only passenger vehicles to focus on plug-in hybrids and pure electric models.
What to watch in 2026
The next test is whether BYD can keep expanding battery-electric sales beyond China without giving away too much margin, and whether Tesla can revive demand with product updates, pricing and faster rollout of new models. With both companies pushing into many of the same markets, the top-seller title is likely to swing on factories, costs and the next round of consumer incentives — not just brand heat.
