BYD named world’s biggest electric car seller
Chinese brand BYD established itself as the world’s biggest electric car seller in 2025.
It replaced Tesla at the top of the list after reporting that sales rose by 28% to 2.25 million units during the year.
Growth has been driven by a surge of sales in the UK, which is now the Chinese brand’s largest market outside its home country. It reported that sales in the UK rose by 880% in the year to end of September, while used car sales were up by 860%.
By contrast, Tesla sales were down by nine per cent across the year to 1.64 million units. Sales fell 16% in the last quarter alone and analysts have lowered their outlook for the car manufacturer during 2026.
Meanwhile, Leapmotor emerged as one of the fastest-growing brands with sales nearly doubling to 596,555, while Xpeng sales were up 126% to 429,445 units and Nio saw sales rise 47% to 326,028.
