Chinese Auto Giant BYD Posts Fivefold Sales Surge in Europe

By Mauro Orru

BYD logged a nearly fivefold surge in European sales last month, a sign of how customers in the region are increasingly warming to the Chinese auto giant's lineup of electric and hybrid vehicles.

New-car registrations for BYD models, a reflection of sales, almost quintupled on year to 24,963 vehicles in Europe last month, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, an industry body also known as ACEA. The figure includes data from the European Union as well as the U.K., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. In the EU alone, BYD registrations more than tripled to 13,221 vehicles.

The jump in sales, the third since July after ACEA began including China's largest automaker in its monthly data, underscores the appeal of BYD's lineup in Europe, even though absolute sales remain far below those of established domestic carmakers like Germany's Volkswagen or Stellantis, the owner of the Jeep and Dodge brands. Both companies respectively sold 317,432 and 165,457 vehicles in Europe last month, according to ACEA.

BYD has been expanding aggressively in the continent, leveraging its relatively cheap and varied lineups to gain market share from rivals. In late 2023, the Chinese company announced plans to build a new passenger car factory in Hungary, with production expected to begin in the coming months.

Meanwhile, registrations for Elon Musk's Tesla fell 10.5% in Europe and nearly 19% in the EU alone last month, according to ACEA data, adding to a streak of disappointing monthly sales for the company this year.

Aside from Chinese and European competition, Tesla has been dealing with the fallout from Musk's involvement with the Trump administration that came to an end a few months ago. The group has been reviewing its lineup lately as it seeks to increase its appeal and recently released pared-down versions of its popular Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan.

ACEA said the EV market in the EU had continued to improve in September. Sales of battery-electric vehicles increased 20% on year, with a 32% jump in Germany. Registrations of hybrid-electric cars increased 16%, while plug-in-hybrid models logged 65% growth.

ACEA said EU passenger-car registrations increased 10% in September to 888,672 vehicles, with sales up 13% in Germany, 1% in France and 4.2% in Italy.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2025 01:14 ET (05:14 GMT)