Chinese auto giant BYD on Friday is expected to dethrone U.S. rival Tesla
as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles on a calendar-year basis.
The milestone would cap an extraordinary rise for BYD, a company Tesla’s Elon Musk once dismissed by laughing at their products during a 2011 Bloomberg interview.
The two carmakers are poised to publish their final annual sales figures for 2025, although based on available sales data, it appears all but certain that BYD will officially surpass Tesla.
In a statement published Thursday, BYD said sales of its battery-powered cars rose nearly 28% to 2.26 million units. Tesla has not yet released its 2025 sales figures, although it is expected to do so later in the day.
