‘Unchallenged’: The World’s Best-Selling EVs Are Still American. But There's A Problem

The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are still global favorites. But Chinese electric vehicles dominate the rest of the list.

2026 Tesla Model Y Performance

Photo by: Tesla

Suvrat Kothari

By: Suvrat Kothari

Nov 19, 2025 at 11:34am ET

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Two Teslas were still at the top of the global electric vehicle sales chart in the first three quarters of this year.
Chinese models dominate overall EV and PHEV sales, though, as they expand into Europe and South America.
The Geely Genome Xingyuan is a burgeoning rival to the BYD Seagull.

Tesla’s electric vehicle market share in the U.S. nearly halved in the third quarter of this year (32%) from its peak (62.8%) in 2020. But despite the tumult at the company amid its pivot to robotics and AI, its two mass-market EVs are still global favorites.

The world’s top two best-selling EVs in the first nine months of 2025 were still the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, market research firm Autovista24 said in a new report citing EV Volumes data. The other eight in the top ten best-selling EVs list were all Chinese models. The country’s plug-in hybrids are in a different league, with no Western model making the top ten PHEV list.

"Tesla controlled the top two positions in the global BEV market nine months into 2025. The Model Y accounted for an unchallenged 8.3% of all-electric car sales," the report said.

BEVs Global Sales Jan-Sept 2025 PHEVs Global Sales Jan-Sept 2025 1 Tesla Model Y 808,173 BYD Song Plus/ Seal U 262,445 2 Tesla Model 3 369,756 BYD Qin Plus 192,479 3 Geely Geome Xingyuan 343,514 BYD Song Pro 175,263 4 BYD Seagull / Dolphin Surf 292,579 BYD Seal 6 167,577 5 Wuling Mini 287,082 Li Auto L6 135,068 6 Xiaomi SU7 219,810 BYD Qin L 132,794 7 BYD Yuan Plus / Atto 3 184,300 BYD Destroyer 05 / Seal 05 120,790 8 BYD Yuan Up / Atto 2 174,137 BYD Song L 110,129 9 BYD Dolphin
162,744 Aito M8 104,327 10 Xpeng M03 131,812 Galaxy Starship 7 99,817

From January to September 2025, Tesla sold 808,173 Model Ys globally. A whopping 145,000 units were sold in September alone, likely supercharged by a massive uptake in the U.S. due to the end of the $7,500 federal credit at the end of that month. In terms of global EV sales, no other model even came close, which just shows how much the electric crossover still dominates sales charts in its fifth year on sale.

The Model 3 ranked at a distant second with 369,756 sales worldwide, followed closely by the Geely Geome Xingyuan with 343,514 units sold. The Geome Xingyuan is a compact electric hatchback sold in China, which starts at just $9,260 (68,800 yuan), and is a burgeoning rival to the popular BYD Seagull—also called Dolphin Surf in some markets—which ranked fourth with 292,579 units sold. The Wuling Mini electric city car rounded out the top five.

2026 Tesla Model Y Standard

Photo by: Tesla

The fact that eight of the world’s top ten best-selling EVs are Chinese—even though the Teslas still rank at the top—may be a wake-up call for the American company. Passenger vehicles, not humanoid robots or robotaxis, are still the company's bread and butter. Moreover, in the U.S., EV sales are hitting a major reset after the end of the tax credits and the rollback of the fuel economy rules. This is a big problem for other American, European, Japanese and Korean car companies, too, as none of them are even on the top-ten list at this point, and selling EVs just got harder in their biggest market.

Another segment where Chinese automakers have comfortably consolidated their dominance is plug-in hybrids. All top ten PHEVs sold globally so far this year have been Chinese models, with no Western model even making the list. The BYD Song Plus crossover—also called Seal U in some markets—amassed 262,445 sales globally between January and September this year. The BYD Qin Plus, Song Pro, Seal 6 and Li Auto L6 round out the world’s top five best-selling PHEVs.

Geely Geome Xingyuan

Photo by: Telescope

And even though a single BYD model isn’t selling as well as the Tesla Model Y, the company is comfortably ahead in terms of combined sales across its portfolio, accounting for 19.3% of the global EV market share, which also includes PHEVs and extended-range models. Tesla ranked a distant second with its diminishing 8% market share, followed by Geely (5.6%), Wuling (3.8%) and Volkswagen (2.8%).

While the Model Y might continue to hang on to its lead this year, the Model 3’s second-place finish at the end of the year is all but certain. The Xiaomi SU7 has been on sale for just over one year, but is already one of the world’s top-selling models. Geely also launched an updated model of the Geome in October in China with snazzier styling, more features and more trims on offer.

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Unless Tesla achieves a breakthrough in its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology that would prompt more buyers to purchase its cars, or surprises us with a new model to take on these Chinese EVs, its lead may continue shrinking in the coming months.

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