China's BYD overtakes Tesla as world's top EV seller

BBC News ^ | 01/02/2026 | Osmond Chia and Danielle Kaye

[SeekAndFind]

China's BYD has overtaken Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has outpaced its American rival in annual sales.

Tesla car sales dropped by nearly 9% in 2025 to 1.64 million vehicles sold worldwide, the carmaker said on Friday - its second consecutive year of falling car deliveries.

Those figures placed Tesla behind BYD, which said on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered cars rose last year by almost 28% to more than 2.25 million.

The US firm has faced a tough year with a mixed reception to new offerings, unease over Musk's political activities and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.

Tesla's car sales fell 16% during the last three months of 2025. The drop was partly due to the repeal of a government subsidy that had helped knock as much as $7,500 (£5,570) off the price of certain battery electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell vehicles.

Wall Street analysts have recently lowered their Tesla sales estimates for 2026, signalling an increasingly gloomy outlook.

Chinese firms such as Geely, MG, and BYD - now the country's largest electric car company - have put pressure on Western rivals by pricing their vehicles below established brands.

In October, Tesla responded by launching lower-priced versions of its two best selling models in the US in a bid to boost sales.

Musk, who is already the world's richest man, is tasked with significantly boosting Tesla's sales and stock market value over the next decade to secure a record-breaking pay package. The deal, which was approved by shareholders in November, could see him getting a payout of as much as $1tn (£740bn).

[nwrep]

BYD = Bring Your Dollar.

[Yardstick]

Does anyone know if China is subsidizing EVs in its internal market? China seems to be huge on EVs. Just wondering if that’s real demand or a market distorted by government fiat. If the latter, then I wonder if there’s a bubble forming and a crash coming.

[butlerweave]

China’s build and park but call them sold scam

[econjack]

Not sure this is a meaningful statistic. China is literally giving their cars away and are stockpiling them everywhere they can find space...even empty parking lots.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Does anyone know if China is subsidizing EVs in its internal market?

For BYD? ABSOLUTELY. BYD is one of the largest recipients of China’s EV subsidies.

🔹 Direct subsidies: $3.7 billion. See here:

https://electrek.co/2024/04/12/china-gave-byd-an-incredible-3-7-billion-to-win-the-ev-race/

The Kiel Institute study shows:
• BYD received €220 million in 2020

• Rising to €2.1 billion in 2022

• Subsidies increased from 1.1% of revenue to 3.5% over that period

This makes BYD the single largest beneficiary of China’s EV subsidy program.

China continues to offer trade‑in subsidies for new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include BYD’s EVs and hybrids.

Consumers can receive:

• 12% rebate (up to RMB 20,000) for buying a new NEV

This program disproportionately benefits BYD because:

• BYD dominates the NEV segment

• BYD’s average selling price is lower than Tesla’s, making subsidies more impactful

But before we cry UNFAIR. Let’s look at Tesla...

Tesla has also received significant U.S. government support, but the type of support is very different from China’s subsidies to BYD.

The Washington Post investigation shows:

• Elon Musk’s companies (including Tesla) have received $38 billion in government funding over 20 years.

• Tesla specifically has earned $11.4 billion in regulatory credits from federal and state programs.

• Tesla buyers benefited from the $7,500 federal EV tax credit (until Tesla hit the 200,000‑vehicle cap in 2019).

These are real subsidies — but they are market‑based incentives, not direct industrial subsidies.

See here:

https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/117951/documents/HHRG-119-JU08-20250227-SD008-U8.pdf

and here:

https://fourwheelask.com/does-tesla-receive-government-subsidies/

[crusty old prospector]

Ain’t that a brand of underwear.

[TonyM]

The Chico s mandated the manufacturing of as many as they could make and essentially sold them to themself in order to make this claim. They are mostly rusting away in fields through China hidden from view.

[Alter Kaker]

BYD makes better cars than Tesla. Not a close run thing either.

[Retgearjammer]

This is like comparing a Cadillac to a Yugo.

[wasmv80]

Red China “sells” (at a fantastic discount) to several “third world” locations where Red China seeks a grip on power and sometimes resources.

[minnesota_bound]

I saw a video showing near empty shopping centers in china being used to store unsold electric cars indoors on floor after floor. It also showed how badly built they are.

[blitz128]

In China cars made are cars sold with regards to GDP
Yes China is subsidizing just about everything, but my main question is who is buying these cars.
Africans, Cubans…. don’t imagine average Chinese can afford these things and/or have a place to plug them in.

[blitz128]

Could you give a source for that claim, color me doubtful

Saw quite a few stories on Russians complaints about Chinese cars being crap, and that says a lot when compared to ladas 🤔

[Vaduz]

Agree maybe they will try to prove things from China do last long.

[oldtech]

What I have to wonder is that who in their right mind would want a Chinese built EV? From what I have read, they have a high rate of failure. Of course there are many who have no use for an EV regardless of where it is built. Wouldn’t touch on with a 10 ft. pole myself & part of that reasoning is,admittedly, I think we have very few charging facilities in our area. The other thought is that I don’t think we have many shops here willing to work on them. Parts availability, especially for some China built rig, would be very unreliable.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Then using globalist laws to run the petrol vehicle industry off so they can get what they want.

[Yardstick]

Thanks for that excellent background.