Toronto, Ontario -- Tesla Inc. has lost its title as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles after global deliveries declined for a second consecutive year.
The automaker delivered about 1.64 million vehicles globally in 2025, down roughly 9% from the previous year. Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla during the same period, selling approximately 2.26 million electric vehicles, making it the world’s largest EV seller for the year.
Tesla’s sales decline was linked to increased competition from overseas manufacturers, the expiration of U.S. electric-vehicle tax credits and backlash tied to chief executive Elon Musk’s political views.
Tesla’s fourth-quarter performance also fell short of industry expectations. The company reported deliveries of 418,227 vehicles in the final three months of the year, missing Wall Street forecasts and extending concerns about slowing demand.
Despite the drop in vehicle sales, Tesla’s stock rose over the course of the year. Investors appeared focused on the company’s longer-term projects, including autonomous driving technology, robotaxi development, energy storage systems and the development of humanoid robots.
Tesla began rolling out its robotaxi service in Texas last June. The company plans to expand the service to additional U.S. locations this year. Tesla faces competition from Waymo, which has operated autonomous taxis for years. The rollout is also subject to regulatory review. The company is currently under federal safety investigations, and could temporarily lose its license to sell cars in California after a judge ruled it misled customers about vehicle safety.
