Tesla Loses Its EV Crown to BYD as Sales Keep Dropping

City: Tesla, a major electric vehicle maker, has lost its title as the biggest EV maker to BYD. This news isn’t surprising because BYD has been selling more cars in Europe for a while. Now, it is clear they are selling more cars worldwide.

Last year, BYD sold 2.25 million electric vehicles, which is 28 percent more than before. In contrast, Tesla sold only 1.64 million cars, which is a 16 percent drop from the previous year. This shows that they are not just falling behind; it is a big change in the electric car market.

Just last week, BYD announced that it sold 4.6 million “new energy vehicles” in 2025. This number includes electric cars and hybrids, and over one million were sold outside of China. Their exports of passenger vehicles grew by more than 145 percent compared to last year.

Tesla had a tough year. Its popular Model Y didn’t get enough updates to boost sales, and not many people bought the much-talked-about Cybertruck. Reports said they sold fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks in over a year, even though they expected to sell 250,000 each year.

With falling sales in the US and Europe, Elon Musk even asked former President Trump for help. Trump turned part of the White House lawn into a platform to showcase Tesla cars. However, by June, there were rumors that Trump might sell the car he bought.

Recently, there were also reports that SpaceX, another company owned by Musk, bought some unsold Cybertrucks. This move could help Tesla’s finances, especially since the US stopped giving out tax credits for EVs.

Musk believes Tesla’s future lies in more than just electric cars. He mentioned plans for robotaxis and creating millions of robots to help the company. However, there have been funny videos showing these robots still need to be controlled by humans.