BYD retains top spot in vehicle sales in China

Chinese automaker BYD Co strengthened its position as the country’s No 1 maker in 2025, selling 4.6 million vehicles to top domestic charts, according to company and industry data.

The total included 2.257 million EVs sold globally, up 27.9 percent from a year earlier, with an increasing share of sales coming from markets outside China, including Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

This also marked the first time its pure EV sales outnumbered Tesla, which produced 1.655 million EVs and delivered 1.636 million, down from 2024, highlighting the widening gap between BYD and its main US competitor.

Following BYD came SAIC Motor Corp on the list of best-selling Chinese carmakers, which posted 4.51 million wholesale vehicles, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, with end-user deliveries reaching 4.67 million units.

Its NEV sales set a new record of 1.643 million vehicles, fueled by self-owned brands such as Roewe, MG, and IM Motors, which together contributed 65 percent of total volume, a five-percentage-point increase from 2024.

FAW Group ranked third nationally with 3.3 million units sold, up 3.2 percent, though its sales remained dominated by joint ventures, including FAW-Volkswagen at 1.58 million units and FAW-Toyota at more than 800,000 units.

Among NEV startups, Leapmotor led the pack with 596,600 units sold, representing a 103 percent year-on-year increase.

Following closely, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance— the coalition of Huawei and multiple automakers — achieved 589,100 units, spanning mid- and high-end market segments.

HIMA’s portfolio currently consists of five brands: Aito, Luxeed, Stelato, Maextro, and Shangjie.

XPeng Motors ranked third among startups, delivering 429,000 units, completing its annual target a month early with 126 percent growth, though still trailing the leaders in scale.

Li Auto, the sales champion among startups in 2024, was the only major new energy startup to see a decline in 2025.

The company delivered 406,343 vehicles, down 18.8 percent year-on-year, but its cumulative deliveries surpassed 1.54 million units, making Li Auto the first domestic NEV brand to reach the 1.5 million vehicle milestone.