Tesla struggles in Europe as BYD surges past EV sales
Jan. 27, 2026 1:40 AM ET Arundhati Sarkar, SA News Editon
Tesla ( TSLA) finished 2025 with weaker European sales, as Chinese automaker BYD ( BYDDF) continued to outperform Elon Musk’s EV company.
New-car registrations for Tesla models, a reflection of sales, fell 20% year-on-year to 35,280 units in December across the European Union, the U.K., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. On an annual basis, Tesla ( TSLA) sales slipped 27% to 238,656 units.
By contrast, China’s BYD saw a remarkable 268.6% jump in European sales, reaching 187,657 units, while its market share rose to 1.4% from 0.4% in 2024.
Battery-electric cars accounted for 17.4% of the EU market share in 2025, an increase from the low baseline of 13.6% one year earlier.
Hybrid-electric car registrations captured 34.5% of the market, remaining the preferred choice among consumers in the EU.
Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 35.5%, down from 45.2% in 2024.
The year-over-year variation for December 2025 showed a surge of 51% for battery-electric and 36.7% for plug-in-hybrid electric cars, while hybrid-electric recorded a 5.8% increase.
Source: Press release |
