Charged: Tesla loses lead as world’s top EV maker to BYD

Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.

From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla (TSLA), Wall Street’s newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with “Charged,” a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.

Click here to check out Tesla’s recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.

TOP EV MAKER: Tesla has lost its lead as the world’s top EV maker to BYD (BYDDF), Akash Sriram of Reuters reports. Tesla’s annual sales fell for a second year due to rising competition, the expiration of U.S. tax credits, and brand backlash. Meanwhile, BYD’s outsold Tesla for the first time on an annual basis following rapid growth in Europe.

TESLA DELIVERIES: Tesla stated that, “In the fourth quarter, we produced over 434,000 vehicles, delivered over 418,000 vehicles and deployed 14.2 GWh of energy storage products – a record for deployments. Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results.”

ALL EYES ON ROBOTAXI: Morgan Stanley notes that Tesla delivered 418,000 vehicles in Q4 2025, a slight 1% miss versus sell-side consensus but ahead of the firm’s 402,000 estimate and buy-side expectations of roughly 400,000-410,000. Morgan Stanley maintains its 1.597M vehicles unit sales and 64 GWh ESS deployment estimate in 2026. The catalyst path for Tesla remains concentrated around its robotaxi business in the first half of 2026, although advancements in personal FSD – in many ways tied to a successful robotaxi roll-out – remain important drivers of future vehicle demand to support the firm’s double-digit volume growth expectations in 2027 and beyond. Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating on the stock with a price target of $425.

RIVIAN DELIVERIES: Rivian announced production and delivery totals for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2025. The company produced 10,974 vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois and delivered 9,745 vehicles during the same period. For the full year 2025, Rivian produced 42,284 vehicles and delivered 42,247 vehicles. Both the fourth quarter and annual figures are in line with Rivian’s expectations.

CHINESE EV MAKERS DELIVERIES: XPeng (XPEV) announced its vehicle delivery results for December and FY25. XPeng delivered 37,508 vehicles in December 2025, representing a year-over-year increase of 2%. Total annual deliveries in 2025 reached 429,445 units, representing a 126% increase over the prior year. For FY25, XPeng delivered 45,008 vehicles in overseas markets, up 96% year-over-year, and expanded its global footprint to 60 countries and regions by year-end.

Nio (NIO) also announced its December, fourth quarter and full year 2025 delivery results. The company delivered 48,135 vehicles in December 2025, a new monthly high, representing an increase of 54.6% year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 31,897 vehicles from the company’s smart electric vehicle brand Nio, 9,154 vehicles from the company’s smart electric vehicle brand Onvo, and 7,084 vehicles from the company’s small smart electric car brand Firefly. The company delivered 124,807 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching a new quarterly record and representing an increase of 71.7% year-over-year. For FY25, total deliveries reached 326,028 vehicles, increasing by 46.9% year-over-year. Cumulative deliveries reached 997,592 as of December 31, 2025. In December 2025, the Nio ES8, surpassed 40,000 cumulative deliveries.

Meanwhile, Li Auto (LI) announced that it delivered 44,246 vehicles in December 2025. This brought the company’s Q4 deliveries to 109,194. As of December 31, 2025, Li Auto’s cumulative deliveries reached 1,540,215. The company also expanded its global footprint by introducing Li L9, Li L7, and Li L6 to Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Additionally, the company officially launched its Li AI glasses, Livis.