Tesla delivered a staggering 1.64 million EVs in 2025. That figure is down from 1.79 million in 2024 and 1.8 million in 2023. In a cutthroat global EV market, even one misstep can cost a company the crown.

Chinese automaker BYD delivered 2.26 million EVs in 2025. That is roughly 620,000 more vehicles than Tesla.

In 2018, Tesla delivered 245,000 EVs. At the time, that was enough to make it the world’s best-selling EV manufacturer. By 2023, the Model Y became the world’s best-selling vehicle, beating the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. All the while, China quietly changed the game.

How China reshaped the EV market

China spent more than a decade funneling $29 billion in subsidies into its EV industry. The country focused heavily on lithium mining and refining. That strategy helped it build the world’s cheapest EV batteries.

The result has been low-priced EVs that Tesla cannot match in many foreign markets. The U.S. could dominate the global auto market again. But it will need to compete on price as well as quality to do so.

So what does this mean for Tesla? BYD selling more EVs is not necessarily disastrous for Tesla’s stock price. In many ways, the companies serve different products and different markets. Still, three consecutive years of declining sales could chip away at investor confidence that Tesla will define the EV future.