Tesla, BYD and China
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"Teslas will be in the wild with no one in them, in June, in Austin," the automaker's CEO, Elon Musk, declared on Tesla's 2024 Q4 earnings call. "This is not some far-off mythical situation; it's five, six months away."
The Chinese automaker BYD sold 2.26 million electric vehicles in 2025, surpassing Tesla as the world's top EV seller.
Elon Musk views robotaxis and autonomous driving as the future of the electric vehicle industry, but Tesla's automaker rivals have a different perspective.
Tesla's sales fell by 9% in 2025 to 1.64 million vehicles, losing its spot as the world's largest EV seller to BYD's 2.26 million. Factors include loss of a $7,500 tax credit, Musk's politics, and strong competition.
Tesla has lost its title as the world’s top EV maker after 2025 sales fell 9%, with the end of a $7,500 U.S. tax credit and slowing demand hitting deliveries.