Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD has filled the void in the EV market caused by the current #TeslaTakedown movement, posting a 60% year-on-year surge in new-energy vehicle sales in the first quarter of 2025.
Tesla rival shifting units
The Tesla rival sold more than one million units globally over the three months, including battery EVs, plug-in hybrids and commercial vehicles.
The Shenzhen-based company reported that pure EV sales climbed 39% to more than 416,000 units, consolidating its lead in China – the world’s largest auto market.
The figures were derived from BYD’s latest stock exchange filing.
This strong quarterly performance builds on BYD’s record 2024 results, when it posted US$107 billion in annual revenue, outpacing Tesla’s US$97.7 billion.
Tesla also reported its first annual delivery decline in 2024, down 1.1%, while facing further setbacks in early 2025, particularly in Europe.
In February, Tesla’s European sales dropped around 40% year-on-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Despite 90% of its 2024 sales being domestic, BYD is increasingly targeting international markets.
European markets targeted
While BYD remains absent from the US passenger car market due to a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs, it is rapidly emerging as a dominant global competitor.
At a time when Trump tariffs and expected retaliations are set to hurt US exports around the world, BYD is in the process of building plants in Hungary and Turkey and is reportedly exploring a third European site.
It aims to double overseas deliveries in 2025 to more than 800,000 units.
The automaker has also unveiled a series of innovations, including a battery charging technology that can add 250 miles of range in five minutes and a new driver-assistance system comparable to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature, which is included at no additional cost.
In China, BYD secured a 27% share of the new-energy passenger vehicle market in the first two months of 2025, while Tesla’s share fell to 4%.
Potential new automotive behemoth
Alongside BYD's growth, there's a trending consolidation in the Chinese automotive sector, with state-owned carmakers Dongfeng Motor and Changan Automobile apparently in merger talks.
If the deal is finalised, it could result in the birth of a new Chinese automotive behemoth, that country’s largest carmaker and among the top five globally by volume.