Global EV Sales — BYD Song Beats Tesla Model Y on the World Stage!

Last Updated on: 5th June 2025, 01:45 am

Plugin vehicles reach 22% share, or 1.5 million units, in April.

Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 22% in April 2025 compared to April 2024. There were around 1.5 million registrations. More good news is that BEVs pulled further ahead of plugin hybrids, growing 26% YoY to 1 million units compared to plugin hybrids growing 15% to some half a million units in the same period.

In the end, plugins represented 22% share of the overall auto market (15% BEV share alone), keeping the YTD numbers at 21% share (14% BEV).

Full electric vehicles (BEVs) represented 66% of plugin registrations in April, keeping the year-to-date tally at 66% share. 2024 finished with 63% share for BEVs, so 2025 is turning out to be a positive year for pure electrics in this metric, too.

In 2025, plugless hybrids represent 14% of total sales, which means that over a third (35%) of total car sales globally already have some form of electrification. The global automotive market remains firmly on the path to electrification.

More importantly, while plugin sales continue to grow fast, with a 27% increase this year, ICE (in this case, including HEVs) sales have dropped, by 4%, compared to the same period of 2024, which itself was down by 1% compared to 2023. So, it seems we can consider 2023 to be the peak ICE year.

Expect this trend to continue and even accelerate in the coming years as plugins grow faster than the total market and absorb more market share.

20 Best Selling EV Models in the World in April

Back to April’s best sellers, the big news is this: The BYD Song has beaten the Tesla Model Y!

After almost three years of uninterrupted domination by the US crossover, someone has managed to beat it. And, ironically, it was another old geezer past its prime that did it.

Despite winning the lead in April, the Song’s monthly tally, 51,550 deliveries, was down by 15% YoY. With sales dropping fast in its domestic market, due to newer internal competition (Song L, Sea Lion 07, and maybe a couple more I am forgetting), the Chinese SUV’s saving grace was export markets. In places like the European Union (>5,000 units), Turkiye (3,700 units), and Brazil (3,100), the Song is experiencing a second youth.

It’s like those athletes who, when they get to a certain age, leave the top leagues for less demanding ones, allowing them to continue their careers for a few more years.

As for the Model Y, with the first refreshed units landing in March, it was expected that the numbers would recover somewhat. But in April, deliveries were down by 29% YoY, to 50,889 units. Better luck in May? June? If none of these months turn out to be positive, then … Houston Austin, we have a problem.

Elsewhere, there isn’t much to mention. The BYD Seagull won April’s bronze medal, keeping its direct rival, Geely Xingyue, in 4th, some 1,000 units behind. But Geely’s star player is still ramping up deliveries in its domestic market, with the 36,000 sales of April being its 4th record in a row, so climbing to the 3rd spot will only be a matter of time. Also, depending on how committed and how fast Geely starts exporting it, we might even see the little hatchback fighting for #1 spot!

Which takes us back to the leadership position. With Tesla Model Y sales on shaky ground across the world and the BYD Song in pre-retirement mode, there hasn’t been a better time in years to see a new leader, but, out of the current candidates, who can beat the two veteran frontrunners?

It’s not easy to see a clear candidate. Looking at the global best sellers (please check Easter Egg 1, below), compact cars/crossovers (or C-segment vehicles) make up the whole podium, while on the EV best sellers table, the best selling compact EV is only 10th (the BYD Yuan Plus), while the vehicles in 3rd (BYD Seagull), 4th (Geely Xingyuan), and 5th (Wuling Mini EV) are either too small for global success or only sold in China, or both.

#6 Xiaomi SU7 is probably at its peak, or close to it, and while future exports might help, these new sales will only compensate for the sales losses made to its crossover sibling, the much anticipated YU7, a model that we will hear plenty about in the coming years and is a clear candidate for a podium spot in 2026, or 2027. So, although it will be a true alternative to the top two models, the YU7 still has to land, ramp-up production, and start exporting in high volumes. We are still a couple of years away from that scenario.

Below the Xiaomi sports sedan, we have another two veterans, the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Qin Plus, both past their prime. (The BYD sedan is down 51% YoY!) The #9 BYD Qin L has some potential, especially since it will get a BEV version soon and it hasn’t yet started to be exported in high volumes. However, considering the large number of siblings it has (BYD Seal, Seal 06, Seal 05, e7, and maybe some others I am missing), it will be difficult to aggregate enough sales around it to compete with the best.

Still on BYD, we have a new representative on the table. The Sealion 05 crossover joined the table, thus making it 10 BYD models in the global top 20.

Off the table, for once, there wasn’t much to mention, with the exception being the first time a Toyota EV reached five digits in just one month. That was the record result of the BZ4X (10,779 units).

Top 20 EV Models YTD

On the year-to-date (YTD) table, the Tesla Model Y and BYD Song held their firm grip on the top positions, while the Tesla Model 3 was stable in the #3 position, benefitting from a 31,000-unit lead over the now 4th placed BYD Seagull.

Interestingly, the podium positions in the first quarter replicate the final standings in 2024, 2023, and 2022 — the Tesla Model Y on top, followed by the BYD Song and the Tesla Model 3. Considering current trends, it doesn’t seem like there will be major changes to the podium by the end of the year, so 2025 will be the 4th year in a row with the same podium standings. Boooring….

Things are more interesting below, though. The BYD Qin L climbed to 9th and now has set its headlights on the #8 BYD Qin Plus, which would be another step in the passing of the torch between these two models.

The Ocean Series twin to the BYD Qin L, the Seal 06, was also up one spot, to #11. And if we were to add the two models in the table, we would get close to 140,000 units, or enough to place them in 4th place. And adding the 98,000 units of the Qin Plus to the tally … yeah, close to Model Y volumes.

Still discussing the BYD stable, we should highlight the Dolphin hatchback climbing two spots, to #18.

Elsewhere, a mention goes out to the Geely Panda Mini, with the tiny hatchback going up to #14.

Is it just me, or are small cars on the rise?…

Easter Egg Bonus 1

Have you ever wondered what the best selling models globally are, all powertrains counted?

Well, I have wondered about that too, and got an answer. Thanks to Marklines, we now have access to a top 5 for Q1 2025:

(Insert graph)

After two years with the Tesla Model Y being the best selling vehicle in the world, all powertrains counted, it seems this year the Toyota Corolla will be back on top. The compact model has over 100,000 units of advance over the runner-up Toyota RAV4.

In the meantime, the Tesla Model Y is in 4th. It is just 3,000 units behind the #3 Honda CR-V, though, so we might see it surpass the Japanese crossover soon.

In other tidbits gathered from Marklines, out of the top 25 global OEMs, the one with the fastest growth is BYD, over 60% growth, while the one with the steepest drop is Tesla, down 20%.

And the top 5 largest markets in the world are: China (34% of total sales), the USA (18%), India (7%), Japan (6%), and Germany (3%). If we were to consider the European Union as a single block, it would be the 3rd largest, with 13% of total sales.

Looking at the electrifications rates of these markets, two stand out — due to their low adoption rates. India has only 2% BEV share, while Japan has the same 2% share for plugins, but split evenly between BEVs (1%) and PHEVs (1%). Much needs to be done in these two markets. Although, I am more optimistic about India than Japan.

Easter Egg Bonus 2

Looking at the sports car segment leaders below, there is some good and bad news:

1. Dodge Charger — 2,347 units in 2025
2. Ferrari 296 — 1,530 units in 2025
3. MG Cyberster — 1,189 units in 2025

The good news is that we finally have a volume seller, the Dodge Charger. The bad news is that tariffs have gutted its success.

A bit of context here: The best selling plugin sports car in 2024 was the Ferrari 296, with close to 4,000 units. Which by itself is not a bad thing — the Ferrari 296 is a fine piece of machinery, the best Ferrari currently available and one of the most important in recent decades. But there’s a small catch. It costs $300,000. … So, it has a small pool of buyers.

If we want plugin sports cars to be mainstream, we need more affordable models, and that’s where the Dodge Charger came in. Although a starting price of $60,000 can hardly be considered affordable, it is a major departure from the $300,000 of the previous leader, so it’s no wonder that the Stellantis EV quickly became the best selling plugin sports car.

But, with Trump’s tariffs imposing a 25% fee on foreign-made vehicles, the success of the Canadian-made Charger in its main market, the USA, is at risk. Dodge has already paused the production of the base version, and with the tariff increase happening soon, we could see the Charger start at around $90,000 in the USA.

So, yes, the Dodge Charger will still probably win this year’s title, but it won’t be the volume model that this category needs.

As for the #3 MG Cyberster, that has narrowly beaten the Mercedes CLE to the podium (1,295 units vs. 1,189). It is a slow grower, and it is doing the hard work of being MG’s halo model in Europe as MG tries to reconnect with its British roots. As for its domestic market, China, it is simply not a relevant market for roadsters.

With past popular models like the BMW i8 (5,900 units in 2015) and Neta GT (8,900 units in 2023) now a thing of the past, we need new volume sellers to push plugins into the spotlight of the category.