Tesla, once dismissive of rivals like BYD, now faces a shifting automotive landscape as the Chinese manufacturer surpasses it in global electric vehicle sales. A resurfaced 2011 interview reveals Elon Musk’s early skepticism toward BYD, a sentiment sharply contrasted by current market realities. This report examines Tesla’s recent sales decline, the ascendance of BYD, and the factors-including policy changes and competitive pressures-contributing to the changing dynamics of the EV industry.
Electric Vehicles:
In 2011, Elon Musk dismissed the idea of competition from Chinese automaker BYD. Now, Tesla is facing a serious challenge.
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– Hahaha! Have you seen their car?
– Why are you laughing? Don’t you see them as a competitor?
– No, I don’t think they have a good product. Their technology isn’t particularly strong. BYD has big problems at home, and I think their focus should be on not dying in China.
Those words came from an interview Bloomberg conducted with Tesla founder Elon Musk in 2011.
It appears the Chinese automaker was listening. In recent years, BYD (Build Your Dreams) has experienced significant success. The New York Times describes the company as China’s “Tesla killer.”
While Tesla sales have declined for the second consecutive year, the Chinese company has now overtaken Elon Musk’s firm as the world’s top-selling electric vehicle manufacturer. This shift underscores the growing competitive pressure in the EV market.
A video of Elon Musk’s behavior at a dinner with U.S. President is drawing attention. Video: X. Reporter: Marte Nyløkken Helseth.
– Will Crush the Rest
Tesla sold 1.64 million vehicles last year, falling short of analysts’ expectations. In the October-December period, 418,227 vehicles were sold, down from 495,570 in the same period of 2024.
Chinese BYD reported on Thursday that it sold 2.26 million electric vehicles in 2025.
Musk appeared to anticipate this shift. In January of 2023, he warned that Chinese EV manufacturers are poised to dominate the industry.
– Honestly, I think if there are no trade barriers, they will crush most other companies in the world,” Musk said at the time, according to CNBC.
Tesla’s decline is linked to weaker demand for EVs in the U.S. after the Trump administration eliminated a $7,500 EV tax credit in September, and the company is also facing increased global competition.
In October, the company launched cheaper “standard range” versions of the Model Y and Model 3, priced around $5,000 lower than previous versions, in an attempt to maintain sales after the subsidies were cut.
Trump is asked if he is considering deporting Elon Musk, and responds cryptically. Video: Reuters.
Strong Numbers in Norway
Furthermore, Elon Musk’s role in and support of the Trump administration has created increased pressure on the brand.
In the fourth quarter, Tesla sales fell 15.6 percent, according to the DPA news agency. Despite the weakening sales, the stock price increased by around 11.4 percent in 2025. Investor enthusiasm for Tesla is increasingly focused on Musk’s projects with self-driving cars and humanoid robots, even though EV sales still account for the majority of the company’s revenue.
A bright spot for Musk, however, is the performance in the Norwegian market. As in previous years, the Tesla Model Y was Norway’s best-selling car in 2025 with 27,621 new registrations.
A total of 34,385 new Teslas were sold in Norway last year, giving the company a market share of a remarkable 19.2 percent. This made Musk’s company the clear favorite among Norwegian car buyers – also in 2025.
– Achieving almost 20 percent market share in a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact in the Norwegian market,” said Geir Inge Stokke, director of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), in a press release on Friday.
