Tesla (TSLA 0.96%) deserves immense credit for the way it sparked and energized a lethargic global electric vehicle (EV) industry. As the tip of the spear, Tesla enjoyed many advantages and has historically dominated any EV market, region, or segment it’s entered. That has rapidly changed over the past couple of years, with Chinese juggernaut BYD (BYDDY 0.89%) making its presence well known.
What should have Tesla investors nervous, especially if their investment thesis heavily involves the automotive industry, is that Tesla and BYD appear to be shifting into completely different gears.
Who’s laughing now?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed BYD as a threat by simply laughing at its products during a 2011 Bloomberg interview. But global sales of BYD’s EVs jumped 28% year over year to 2.26 million units in 2025, while Tesla deliveries declined 8% to 1.64 million.
Here’s the bad news:…
