Sales at Chinese electric car giant BYD have soared this year as it outshines arch-rival Tesla, writes Callum Muirhead.

BYD – which has been dubbed ‘the Tesla killer’ – sold 986,098 passenger vehicles in the first three months of 2025.

That was 58pc higher than in the same period of 2024.

By contrast, industry data showed Tesla had suffered a plunge in sales across Europe as anger over boss Elon Musk’s links to Donald Trump escalated.

Tesla sales are down 41pc this year in France – its second biggest market in Europe behind the UK.

They are also down 55pc in Sweden and Denmark, nearly 50pc in the Netherlands and 12.5pc in Norway.

Tesla is due to report its full first-quarter sales figures today.

Analysts predict sales of around 373,000, down 3.6pc year-on-year.

The slump comes as Tesla faces a growing backlash over Musk’s relationship with the US President and wider forays into politics.

Quentin Willson, founder of electric vehicle campaign group FairCharge and a Tesla owner, said: “Never has a car brand suffered such a global fall from grace.”