BYD Overtakes Tesla in Europe for First Time, Unhealthy Information for Elon Musk

BYD simply scored a serious win in opposition to Tesla in certainly one of its greatest markets.

The Chinese language electrical automobile large outsold Tesla in Europe for the primary time final month, as Elon Musk’s automaker noticed its gross sales collapse amid livid backlash over its CEO’s politics.

BYD bought 7,230 battery-electric autos in April, in comparison with 7,165 for Tesla, in line with JATO Dynamics knowledge.

It is a main milestone for the Chinese language model, and suggests BYD has taken benefit of Tesla’s alarming decline in Europe.

New Tesla registrations dropped practically 50% in April in comparison with the identical month final yr, whereas BYD gross sales surged 169% over the identical interval, per JATO Dynamics knowledge.

BYD outsold Tesla with out even taking hybrid gross sales under consideration. In contrast to its rival, Tesla solely makes battery-powered EVs.

Tesla has taken a battering this yr in Europe, its third-largest market after the US and China. The automaker’s European gross sales had been down 30% within the first three months of 2025, in line with JATO Dynamics, regardless of EV gross sales rising general.

The automaker has confronted a wave of backlash over CEO Musk’s position within the Trump administration and endorsement of German far-right get together AfD.

In an interview on the Qatar Financial Discussion board on Tuesday, Musk denied Tesla was dealing with a gross sales stoop. That was regardless of Tesla reporting its weakest quarter for deliveries since 2022 final month because it retooled factories for the launch of its up to date Mannequin Y.

“Europe is our weakest market. We’re sturdy in every single place else. Gross sales are doing nicely at this level, we do not anticipate any significant gross sales shortfall,” mentioned Musk.

In contrast, BYD is racing to launch new fashions because it seeks to capitalize on its explosive development in Europe.

The Chinese language model unveiled the Dolphin Surf, the European model of its low cost Seagull EV, on Wednesday.

The compact hatchback will go on sale in 15 European markets in June, with costs beginning at 23,000 euros ($26,000) — about $19,000 lower than Tesla’s most cost-effective mannequin.

Having crushed Tesla in China, BYD is eyeing aggressive enlargement abroad. The EV large bought 79,000 autos exterior China final month, practically double the whole in April 2024.