WASHINGTON: Tesla&#39;s sales fell in 2025, the company reported Friday, ceding its position as the world&#39;s biggest electric vehicle maker for the year to Chinese auto giant BYD.&nbsp;The American company led by Elon Musk logged 418,227 deliveries in the final three months of the year, taking its full-year sales figure to around 1.64 million EVs.&nbsp;This marked a drop in sales of more than eight percent compared with 2024.&nbsp;A day prior, BYD said that it sold 2.26 million EVs last year.&nbsp;Analysts had expected Tesla&#39;s sales in the final quarter to slow less, to 449,000, according to a FactSet consensus.&nbsp;The pullback comes amid the elimination of a $7,500 US tax credit at the end of September 2025, with industry watchers noting it will take time for EV demand to rebalance.&nbsp;But even before then, Tesla had seen sales struggle in key markets over CEO Musk&#39;s political support of US President Donald Trump and other far-right politicians.&nbsp;Tesla has also been grappling with rising competition from BYD and other Chinese companies, and from European giants.&nbsp;Shenzhen-based BYD, which also produces hybrid cars, unveiled record EV sales in the past year on Thursday.&nbsp;Known as &quot;Biyadi&quot; in Chinese or by the English slogan &quot;Build Your Dreams&quot; BYD was founded in 1995 and originally specialized in battery manufacturing.&nbsp;The automotive juggernaut has come to dominate China&#39;s highly competitive market for new energy vehicles, a term used to describe various vehicles from fully electric ones to plug-in hybrids. China is the world&#39;s largest market for new energy vehicles.&nbsp;BYD is now looking to expand its presence overseas, as increasingly price-wary consumption patterns in China weigh on profitability.&nbsp;While BYD and other Chinese EV producers come up against hefty tariffs in the United States, the company&#39;s success is picking up in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and in Europe.&nbsp;Tesla only narrowly beat BYD in annual EV sales in 2024, with US company&#39;s 1.79 million outpacing the latter&#39;s 1.76 million.&nbsp;Nonetheless, Tesla shares ticked up in pre-market trading in New York on Friday.&nbsp;Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities noted that Tesla&#39;s quarterly sales figure remained much better than some had speculated.&nbsp;He flagged that the company faces a &quot;more difficult demand environment following the end of the EV tax credit while Europe remains a headwind to its deliveries.&quot;&nbsp;Ives noted that the company still sees challenges obtaining certain regulatory approval in Europe, with sales potentially rebounding once the regulatory hurdles are cleared.&nbsp;&quot;Sales around smaller and emerging markets have started to see larger growth metrics than expectations which look to offset the declines in key regions like China and Europe,&quot; he added.

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Tesla’s 2025 EV deliveries fell to about 1.64 million, dropping over 8 % and losing the global electric vehicle sales crown to China’s BYD, which sold 2.26 million, amid rising competition and declining US tax incentives.

Tesla sales slip as it loses EV crown to China's BYD in 2025

Reuters

BUENOS AIRES: China&#39;s largest carmaker on Wednesday launched sales of its EVs in Argentina, taking advantage of the lifting of import tariffs for electric and hybrid vehicles and boosting its fast-growing footprint in South America.&nbsp;The models for sale are the electric Yuan Pro SUV, Song Pro plug-in hybrid SUV, and the electric Dolphin Mini.&nbsp; They all have a price of under $16,000 at origin before taxes and fees to take advantage of a new measure by Argentina&#39;s government to allow up to 50,000 electric and hybrid vehicles without tariffs in 2026.&nbsp;Chinese brands dominate this sector, and Argentina has said it expects imports of about 40,000 electric and hybrid vehicles to enter the country by the end of January.&nbsp;Normally, imported cars from brands that do not have manufacturing operations in Argentina or other members of South America&#39;s trade bloc Mercosur, which includes Brazil, pay a 35% tariff.&nbsp;Stephen Deng, the country manager for BYD in Argentina, said that BYD can currently import about 7,800 electric and hybrid cars under an allocation it was given by Argentina.&nbsp;&quot;We see great potential in the long term for Argentina to develop electromobility,&quot; Deng told Reuters at a launch event on Wednesday, calling the new policy a &quot;tremendous opportunity.&quot;&nbsp;Local dealers say the tariff scheme will likely benefit lower-cost Chinese carmakers such as BYD, which is expanding across South America.&nbsp;&quot;We will see a rebound, demand will finally take off in Argentina,&quot; said Felipe Munoz, a global automotive analyst at JATO Dynamics based in Italy, referring to local EV sales.&nbsp;Argentina has the second-largest car market in South America, after Brazil, but it also has the region&#39;s smallest penetration of electric vehicles.&nbsp;From January through August 2025, only 486 electric cars out of a total of 421,000 were sold in Argentina, according to Munoz. For years, importers faced unfavorable exchange rates to import electric vehicles, forcing many consumers to buy combustion-engine cars manufactured locally.&nbsp;Argentina&#39;s overall car market as measured in new vehicles registered, jumped 60.4% in the first nine months of the year compared with a year prior, buoyed by tariff reductions and improved credit lines, industry data from September show.

China’s BYD launched its electric and hybrid vehicles in Argentina after tariff cuts, expanding its South American presence as the country aims to import 50,000 EVs by 2026.

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Tesla sales slip as it loses EV crown to China's BYD in 2025

China's BYD expands South American footprint with Argentina EV launch