from Hacker News

BYD sales soar as Tesla continues to struggle in Europe

by vinni2 on 4/1/25, 8:31 PM with 42 comments

  • by dgacmu on 4/1/25, 9:28 PM

    Before replying too quickly to the headline, please note that it's another case of "bad headline-itis" that is conflating two things that the article DOESN'T say.

    (1) Tesla sales have crashed in Europe.

    (2) BYD sales are up globally, with the largest gain in China. Most of those sales are not in the EU; the EU has imposed high tariffs on Chinese autos.

    These two statements are operating independently of each other; it is not the case that BYD sales are what have caused Tesla to crash in Europe, and this is not what the article says. However, the headline puts these two facts in close juxtaposition, inviting an incorrect conclusion on quick skim. Grr, headline writer, grr.

    Drawing from other sources, BYD sold only about 83,000 cars in the EU in 2024, though they are projecting to double that in 2025. So it may be that BYD will be part of _future_ Tesla sales drops, but these are likely due to price/quality more than politics.

    (Re-posting this at the top level because the comment I replied to got flagged)

  • by IshKebab on 4/1/25, 9:05 PM

    No mystery. They're cheaper, they don't come with Musk's politics, nor his dumb decisions (no rain sensor, no stalks etc.).

  • by oblio on 4/1/25, 9:12 PM

    I'm going to watch with interest how long Tesla can flight gravity.

    Tesla will probably be kicked out of China by the local brands. Chinese brands are hyper competitive and either make their own batteries or have strong partnerships with Chinese battery giants. Their software stacks are frequently good and the manufacturing quality can be really good (to no one's surprise, China makes half of what the world uses).

    Tesla will probably be kicked out of Europe by Chinese and European brands. Even the European brands are starting to slowly launch cheaper models where Tesla isn't going. I doubt Tesla will launch a sub 20k€ car soon (or ever).

    That basically leaves only the US as a big market. I doubt that's enough to sustain a trillion dollar valuation.

    Note: I don't believe in Tesla robotaxis or robots doing anything economically relevant within the next 10 years.

  • by mulderc on 4/1/25, 9:07 PM

    I don't know much about BYD cars but from what I can tell they sound to just be better cars than what Tesla puts out.

  • by t1234s on 4/1/25, 9:03 PM

    Recently in europe on vacation I noticed the the majority of electric cars were VW ID models then Tesla. I did manage to see two BYD vehicles.

  • by ChrisArchitect on 4/1/25, 9:13 PM

  • by IncreasePosts on 4/1/25, 9:03 PM

  • by numpad0 on 4/2/25, 12:15 AM

    Why would BYD sell better than Nissan Leaf? I mean, iPhone revolutionized phone, because it had fewer parts and offered massively better experiences.

    I don't see how that would be the case with Chinese EVs, or Tesla, even.

  • by sam-cop-vimes on 4/1/25, 9:21 PM

    While the BYD offering looks attractive on the surface, it doesn't make sense for the Europeans to eagerly start adopting Chinese brands instead of American brands. Any country one becomes overly dependent on is a threat to one's sovereignty. The lesson has to be learnt from this change in American politics.