Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker to China’s BYD on Friday after the company witnessed a drop in sales for a second year in a row.
Elon Musk’s Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025 — 9 per cent fewer than a year earlier. On the other hand, BYD sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, making it the biggest EV maker.
The figures may have been a fallout of the Trump administration’s decision to phase out tax credits — worth up to $7,500 — for new EVs after September 30. While stiff overseas competition pushed sales down, customers also reportedly revolted over Musk’s right-wing politics after he aligned with then presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Despite multiple issues, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11 per cent, as investors hope Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make the company a leader in robotaxi services and produce humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices, news agency Associated Press reported.
In July, by then elected US President, Donald Trump introduced a 180-degree turn in federal EV policy by unveiling the ‘big beautiful bill’, dealing a severe blow to manufacturers by removing tax credits that lowered costs. The credits were worth up to $7,500 and $4,000 for purchases of new and used EVs, respectively.
Tesla had initially set a goal of selling as many as 20 million cars a year by 2030, The New York Times reported. The company accounts for 45 per cent of the US EV market and has been the biggest beneficiary of the policies supporting their sales.
