China's BYD Opens 2026 With Blockbuster Sales Growth in Europe

By Mauro Orru

Chinese auto giant BYD logged a nearly threefold increase in European sales last month, a glittering start to the year as its electric and hybrid vehicles remain in high demand on the continent.

New-car registrations for BYD models, a reflection of sales, surged to 18,242 units last month from 6,884 in January 2025 across the European Union, the U.K., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, an industry body also known as ACEA.

BYD sales in Europe have skyrocketed every month--sometimes nearly fivefold--since ACEA began including the company in its data last summer, underscoring growing appetite for its lineup of vehicles among European drivers in a threat to established carmakers.

Germany's Volkswagen reported a 3.8% decline in European sales last month, with BMW and Renault registrations down 5.7% and 15% respectively, according to ACEA data. While those companies still sold far more vehicles in Europe than BYD, declining figures are testament to the fierce competition that domestic carmakers face from their Chinese rival.

Earlier this month, Jeep maker Stellantis said it would book charges of about $26 billion as part of a shift away from electric vehicles amid weaker-than-expected demand. Several automakers have had to review their lineups and scale back EV production in recent years as they struggled to convince drivers to transition to electric.

BYD outsold Elon Musk's Tesla in Europe last month. New-car registrations for Tesla models slid 17% on year to 8,075 units in January, according to ACEA data, extending a weakening of sales for Elon Musk's EV maker that intensified last year amid customer backlash against the billionaire's temporary involvement with the Trump administration, the expiration of federal EV tax credits in the U.S. and stiff competition.

Tesla's global sales fell about 1% in 2024 and 9% last year. BYD recently ​dethroned Tesla ​as the world's biggest EV seller.

ACEA data showed that sales of battery-electric vehicles in Europe grew nearly 14% on year in January. Registrations of hybrid-electric cars increased 6.4%, while plug-in-hybrid models grew 32%.

ACEA said that passenger-car registrations declined 3.5% in Europe as a whole and 3.9% in the EU, with sales down 6.6% in both Germany and France, but up 6.2% in Italy.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2026 00:14 ET (05:14 GMT)