BYD to replace Tesla on top of EV sales charts

New research is predicting that Chinese brand BYD could replace Tesla as the best-selling manufacturer of electric vehicles.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence’s (BI) Global BEV Report 2024, the global BEV sales mix could reach 15% by 2025, up from last years 11%, before doubling to 31% in 2030.

It predicts China will remain the most dominant region in terms of production, with Tesla falling well short of its 50% annual growth target.

Michael Dean, senior European automotive analyst at BI, said: “Tesla’s original 50% annual growth target is in tatters and despite new capacity and competitive pricing we see it losing its BEV global annual sales crown to BYD in 2024 on a lack of new models. Tesla’s longer-term success relies on a cheap high-volume Model 2 which is yet to be unveiled.”

BYD

He continued:

“BYD’s lead may be short lived with limited export opportunities beyond Asia and emerging markets, given US and EU import tariffs with 85% of BEV sales in China versus one third for Tesla. Though VW is no longer a short-term challenger, its next-gen platforms using acquired technology may provide a boost from 2026-27. VW Group enjoys a leading 22% BEV market share in Europe, but this dominance needs to be replicated in other regions, particularly China, where its BEV share was only four per cent.”

However, the report suggests that petrol and diesel vehicles will continue to dominate sales into the 2030, with car manufacturers scaling back BEV targets as demand stalls.