BYD’s sales growth slowed significantly in 2025 amid intensifying competition in the domestic market, but the Chinese automaker is still expected to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker.
BYD reported on Thursday night (1) that it sold 420,398 units in December, a drop of 18% year-on-year, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline. In the year, sales totaled 4.6 million vehicles, an increase of 7.7%, well below the 41% jump recorded in 2024.
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Tesla delivered 422,850 units in the fourth quarter, taking its annual sales to 1.64 million vehicles, according to a market consensus compiled by the company itself.
In the entry segment, BYD faced increasing competition from Geely and Leapmotor. Geely delivered 3.02 million units in 2025, an increase of 38.5%. Leapmotor, previously a smaller player in the sector, surpassed the target of 500 thousand units and raised it to more than 600 thousand, setting a goal of 1 million in 2026.
NIO and Li Auto stood out in December, with 48,135 and 44,246 vehicles, respectively. For Joel Ying, an analyst at Nomura, the good performance reflects the final effort to deliver backlogs.
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Analysts predict more pressure in 2026 after the cut in subsidies for lower-priced vehicles, a measure aimed at encouraging technological innovation and improving the sector’s mix. Deutsche Bank projects a 5% drop in Chinese retail passenger car sales.
“With this scenario, the environment is expected to be challenging at the beginning of 2026,” says Ying. Still, he believes that BYD can regain momentum in the domestic and foreign markets, and should announce its strategy for 2026 and model updates after the Lunar New Year. Source: Dow Jones Newswires*.
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*Content translated with the help of Artificial Intelligence, reviewed and edited by the Broadcast editorial team, Grupo Estado’s real-time news system.
