This is the first time BYD has outpaced its American rival in annual sales

China’s BYD has overtaken Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has outpaced its American rival in annual sales.

Tesla car sales dropped by nearly 9% in 2025 to 1.64 million vehicles sold worldwide, the carmaker said on Friday – its second consecutive year of falling car deliveries.

Those figures placed Tesla behind BYD, which said on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered cars rose last year by almost 28% to more than 2.25 million.

The US firm has faced a tough year with a mixed reception to new offerings, unease over Musk’s political activities and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.

Tesla’s car sales fell 16% during the last three months of 2025. The drop was partly due to the repeal of a government subsidy that had helped knock as much as $7,500 (£5,570) off the price of certain battery electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell vehicles.

Wall Street analysts have recently lowered their Tesla sales estimates for 2026, signaling an increasingly gloomy outlook.

Chinese firms such as Geely, MG, and BYD – now the country’s largest electric car company – have put pressure on Western rivals by pricing their vehicles below established brands.

In October, Tesla responded by launching lower-priced versions of its two best selling models in the US in a bid to boost sales.

Musk, who is already the world’s richest man, is tasked with significantly boosting Tesla’s sales and stock market value over the next decade to secure a record-breaking pay package. The deal, which was approved by shareholders in November, could see him getting a payout of as much as $1tn (£740bn).

As part of the agreement, Musk also has to sell a million humanoid robots over the next ten years. Tesla has invested heavily in its “Optimus” product and self-driving “Robotaxis”.

Analysts say Tesla’s robotaxi and self-driving rollout in 2026, which has helped send its share price to a record high, will be crucial to its overall performance.

Though there are big questions surrounding Tesla self-driving ambitions, some remain optimistic. Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities says Tesla will own about 70% of the self-driving market over the next decade “as no other company in the world can match the scale and scope” of the firm.

Besides Tesla, Musk’s business interests also include the social media platform X, the rocket firm SpaceX and the Boring Company, which digs tunnels.

Those commitments, along with running US President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) early last year, led some investors to suggest that Musk was not focusing enough on Tesla.

Musk has since stepped back from his role in the US government.

Despite BYD’s rise in recent years, its sales growth slowed in 2025 to the weakest rate in five years, in part due to fierce competition in China, its key market.

And despite BYD surpassing Tesla when it comes to car sales, the US firm has remained more profitable in recent quarters.

Still, BYD remains a global EV powerhouse as its prices often undercut rival carmakers.

The Shenzhen-based company’s rapid expansion – especially in Latin America, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe – comes despite many countries imposing steep tariffs on Chinese EVs.

In October, BYD said the UK had become its biggest market outside China. The firm said that its sales in Britain surged by 880% in the year to the end of September, driven by strong demand for the plug-in hybrid version of its Seal U sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Implementation of DVLA’s digital system delayed

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has officially released the “26” suffix for vehicle number plates, effective January 2, 2026, after a delay in implementing its planned high-tech registration system.

The Authority had intended to introduce new number plates that would drop the year-based suffix and feature Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

The digital plates were designed to enable electronic scanning for vehicle tracking, road tolling, speed monitoring, and law enforcement.

DVLA to introduce biometric international driver’s licences in 2026

However, according to citinewsroom.com, the Director of Corporate Affairs at DVLA, Stephen Attuh, explained that the rollout has been postponed because the necessary amendments to the Road Traffic Regulations (L.I. 2180) were not passed by Parliament before it went on recess.

“The specific regulations in L.I. 2180, which we require to be able to amend before we can introduce the plate, were not successfully passed before Parliament went on recess.

“And so, being a law-guiding institution, that regime must actually be in place before we can roll out the new license plate. In its absence, we are compelled to continue with the current registration system or regime that we have,” Attuh stated.

He confirmed that the Authority has therefore transitioned from the 2025 “25” suffix to the new “26” suffix for all registrations starting January 2.

“So, we’ve moved from the suffix 25, which is for the year 2025, to the suffix 26, which begins today. Instead of the original plan of removing the suffix, unfortunately, because we couldn’t go through, that will not happen until we get the amendment done. Then we can move on to the new system and the new platform and issue those plates,” Attuh added.

The DVLA has assured the public that the modern RFID-enabled plates and the new digital platform will be launched once Parliament reconvenes and passes the required legislative instrument.

Until then, the existing year-suffix system remains in force nationwide.

ID/BAI

Meanwhile, watch as Acting Defence Minister Ato Forson inaugurates 9-Member Ministerial Advisory Board