BYD EV Sales Top Tesla In Europe For First Time

China’s BYD tops Tesla in monthly EU sales for first time ever in spite of tariffs, as US carmaker faces political backlash

By Matthew Broersma,
2 min
BYD's Han electric vehicle. Image credit: BYD
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BYD’s sales figures in Europe for battery-powered electric vehicles surpassed those of Tesla for the first time in April in spite of heavy EU tariffs on Chinese imports, according to figures from Jato Dynamics from 28 European countries.

BYD sold 7,231 BEVs in the bloc in April, up 169 percent year-on-year, as Tesla’s sales in the same region fell 49 percent on a year earlier to 7,165 units.

Jato analyst Felipe Munoz said the figures represented a “watershed moment” for Europe’s car market.

Tesla's new Model Y electric vehicle (EV), introduced in January 2025. Image credit: Tesla
Tesla’s new Model Y electric vehicle (EV), introduced in January 2025. Image credit: Tesla

Sales surge

That is especially true since BYD only expanded its European operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022, while Tesla has dominated EV sales in the region for years, he said.

BEVs made up 17 percent of the 1.1 million new cars registered on the continent in April, up from 13.4 percent a year earlier, with plug-in hybrids accounting for 9 percent, up 6.9 percent year-on-year.

Overall, Chinese firms’ BEV sales jumped 59 percent year-on-year in April to 15,300 units, compared to a 26 percent sales increase for carmakers from Europe, Japan, South Korea and the US.

Chinese PHEV sales grew much faster, jumping 546 percent year-on-year to 9,649 units, making up nearly 10 percent of PHEVs registered in the EU.

Many Chinese carmakers introduced PHEVs into Europe after the bloc imposed levies of up to 45.3 percent on Chinese-built BEVs last November.

BYD and Chery respectively sold 3,269 and 757 PHEVs in the EU in March, up from almost none in July 2024, when provisional tariffs were first introduced, Rho Motion said earlier this month.

Avoiding levies

Jato Dynamics said the EU could potentially expand tariffs to Chinese-made PHEVs.

Chinese carmakers are speeding up the construction of plants within the EU to counter tariffs, with BYD’s first European car factory in Hungary planned to start production in the second half of this year.

BYD, which has surpassed Tesla as the world’s biggest EV maker worldwide, is planning to establish a European headquarters and a research and development unit in Hungary, the company said last week.