Sales fall for 2nd successive year: Testa loses biggest EV maker title
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New York: Tesla lost its crown as the world's bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk's right-wing politics, expiring US tax breaks for buyers, and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row, the Associated Press reported.
Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9 per cent from a year earlier.
Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker.
It's a stunning reversal for Musk, who once dismissed BYD as a threat as Tesla's rise seemed unstoppable, crushing traditional automakers with far more resources and helping make him the world's richest man.
For the fourth quarter, sales totalled 418,227, falling short of the 440,000 that analysts polled by FactSet expected. The sales total was impacted by the expiration of a USD 7,500 tax credit that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.
Tesla stock was up 0.5 per cent at USD 451.60 in early trading on Friday.
Even with multiple issues buffeting the company, investors are betting that Tesla CEO Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make Tesla a leader in robotaxi service and get consumers to embrace humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices.
Reflecting that optimism, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11 per cent.
The latest quarter was the first with sales of stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 that Musk unveiled in early October as part of an effort to revive sales.
The new Model Y costs just under USD 40,000, while customers can buy the cheaper Model 3 for under USD 37,000. Those versions are expected to help Tesla compete with Chinese models in Europe and Asia.
For fourth-quarter earnings coming out in late January, analysts are expecting the company to post a 3 per cent drop in sales and a nearly 40 per cent drop in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts expect the downward trend in sales and profits to eventually reverse itself as 2026 rolls along.
