Tesla loses title as world's biggest electric vehicle maker as sales fall for second year in a row
Source: AP
Updated 2:04 PM EST, January 2, 2026
NEW YORK (AP) — 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 U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row.
Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% 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 a car company whose rise once seemed unstoppable as it overtook traditional automakers with far more resources and helped make Musk the world’s richest man.
For the fourth quarter, sales totaled 418,227, falling short of even the much reduced 440,000 target that analysts recently polled by FactSet had expected. Sales were hit hard by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/tesla-sales-musk-trump-deliveries-robotaxi-6d60715babde97b3b1a8e2416f4065ca
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