- BYD sales exploded last month, taking it past Tesla for the first time.
- The Chinese brand sold 7,231 cars in Europe in April, to Tesla’s 7,165.
- Renault’s Clio was the best-selling vehicle overall with almost 19k sales.
Fourteen years after Elon Musk mocked BYD and its chances of ever beating Tesla, the Chinese brand has effortlessly pushed past its American rival in the European EV sales war. At first glance, the numbers look close: BYD shifted 7,231 cars in Europe in April to Tesla’s 7,165, according to figures from Jato. Not much in that, you might think. But then you consider the direction those sales figures are heading, and things look bleak for Tesla.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};
adpushup.que.push(function() {
if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){
adpushup.triggerAd(“0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8”);
} else {
adpushup.triggerAd(“82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f”);
}
});
BYD’s sales exploded 169 percent versus April 2024 to reach that 7,231 tally, suggesting there’s plenty of growing left to do. The company this week launched its sub-€23,000 ($26k) Dolphin Surf in Europe, a car that’s sure to have a huge impact because it undercuts almost every Western rival bar the bare-bones and dog-slow Dacia Spring 45.
Related: China’s $10K Seagull Becomes The $26K Dolphin Surf For Europe
Tesla’s trajectory is much more worrying. Sales in Europe last month plummeted by 49 percent, and that was despite Tesla having introduced the facelifted Model Y earlier in the year. What looks like a close race between BYD and Tesla based on this month’s bald figures could end up being a totally one-sided competition by the end of the year if the two firms continue on this path. Musk says only death will get him out of the CEO’s chair, but you have to wonder if Tesla’s slide towards its own demise will cause investors to ‘help’ him think again.
Tesla’s sales misfortune comes not just as BYD is gaining ground, but the whole EV sector is up. Total sales of cars, regardless of power type, increased by just 0.1 percent to 1,078,500, but sales of battery vehicles climbed 28 percent to 184,300, growing their share of the car market from 13 to 17 percent.
Plug-in hybrids fared even better. Sales jumped 31 percent to 97,700, moving their share from 7 to 9 percent. And naturally, BYD’s success contributed to big gains for Chinese brands in the overall table. Their sales increased 121 percent to 53,300 units, more than doubling the Chinese brand’s portion of the market to 4.9 percent. But although Chinese brands were winning, Chinese-owned Western brands – think Volvo, Polestar, MG – suffered a 15 percent sales drop.
All of this EV action didn’t trouble the contenders for best-selling overall vehicle, none of which were EVs (the Model Y’s incredible run in 2023 now looking like we imagined it). All of the top three suffered sales declines, but Renault’s Clio (18,997 units) fell by just 3 percent to Dacia’s Sandero 28 percent slide (18,590), helping the Clio overtake its budget cousin and grab first place for the first time since 2020.
VW’s Golf had a rough month, sales sinking 29 percent, forcing it from fifth spot in March’s sales list right down to eighth place. But the VW Group will find some comfort in the knowledge that it was the best-selling automaker, notching up 294,600 deliveries.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};
adpushup.que.push(function() {
if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){
adpushup.triggerAd(“bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c”);
} else {
adpushup.triggerAd(“9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751”);
}
});
Best-selling EV brands, Europe, April 2025 (Jato)
SWIPE
Best-selling EV brands, Europe, April 2025 (Jato)
SWIPE
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};
adpushup.que.push(function() {
if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){
adpushup.triggerAd(“bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c”);
} else {
adpushup.triggerAd(“9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751”);
}
});