ISTANBUL

Chinese automaker BYD overtook American competitor Tesla on Friday as the world's top seller of electric cars for the calendar year 2025.

BYD sold 2.26 million fully electric vehicles in 2025, up 28% from a year earlier, according to a statement released on Thursday.

Tesla, meanwhile, said it delivered 1.64 million cars last year, which is consistent with a forecast of 1.6 million cars that the company had put together.

The annual statistic marked the company's second consecutive annual decline, down 8.6% from 2024.

In comparison to the fourth quarter of 2024, when Elon Musk's EV business recorded 495,570 deliveries, deliveries for Q4 2025 were almost 16% lower.

Tesla's vehicle production for the year as a whole also decreased by 6.7% to 1.65 million.

Tesla saw shares collapse in the first quarter of 2025 amid stiff competition, particularly from Chinese EV manufacturers, and reputational fallout from Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric.