Tesla has been dethroned by the Chinese electric vehicle maker (EV) BYD as the world’s biggest seller of on a calendar-year basis.
This follows two consecutive years of sales declines for Tesla.
The company said it delivered 418,227 vehicles in the October to December quarter, down 15.6% from a year earlier.
For 2025, Tesla said it delivered 1.64 million vehicles compared with 1.79 million in 2024.
Analysts said Tesla had come under immense pressure, especially in North America and Europe, due to intensified competition and owner Elon Musk’s political affiliation.
Despite the fall in deliveries, Tesla shares rose 12.30% for the whole year.
Meanwhile, BYD said sales of its battery-powered cars rose by nearly 28% to 2.26 million units, marking an extraordinary rise for the company Musk once laughed at.
Sales for BYD climbed to a record 1 million outside China, up around 150% from 2024.
At the time of writing, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock was down 11.65% to US$428.07
