Tesla's Global Sales Crisis Deepens As BYD's Sales Surge 162% In Europe

BYD Company (OTC:BYDDY) outsold Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in Europe for the second straight month in February, registering 17,954 vehicles to Tesla’s 17,664. Year-to-date, BYD leads by more than 10,000 units and is up 162% year-over-year. Tesla is essentially flat. Now BYD is coming for Canada. Canada Is Next BYD is planning 20 branded dealerships in Canada within its first year, after Canada slashed its 100% tariff on Chinese-built EVs to 6.1% in January. Three locations in the Greater Toronto Area are already under discussion, with Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary next. Tesla’s Canadian sales collapsed more than 60% in 2025 to roughly 18,000 units. General Motors (NYSE:GM) overtook Tesla as Canada’s top-selling EV brand. BYD enters a market where the dominant player is wounded and affordable EVs are scarce. Tesla has announced steep prices increases for its vehicles in Canada, a move that coincides with the expiration of Canada's federal EV incentive program. Morningstar’s Michael Field told CNBC that Chinese automakers like BYD have a cost advantage that “may prove insurmountable.” The European Numbers BYD grabbed 1.8% EU market share in February, up from 0.6% a year ago. Tesla managed 1.6%. That gap matters because the broader European BEV market is booming, hitting 18.8% share through February, up from 15.2%. Tesla is somehow losing ground in a market that’s growing without it. Full-year 2025 was already brutal: European registrations plunged 27.8%, with Germany down 48% and Sweden down 67%. Musk’s embrace of far-right European politicians and his role leading DOGE have turned the Tesla brand toxic in key markets. A Yale study estimated his political activities cost Tesla over 1 million U.S. sales alone. The damage in Europe, where anti-Musk sentiment runs even hotter, may be worse. Wedbush’s Dan Ives, the Street’s most prominent Tesla bull, has called Europe a “continuous headwind.” What Prediction Markets Are Saying Tesla reports Q1 deliveries in early April. On Polymarket, bettors are pricing a 53% probability the company delivers fewer than 350,000 vehicles globally. According to Polymarket, Tesla has a 2% chance of being the largest company by market cap by the end of the year. Prediction market traders are also bearish on Tesla’s product pipeline. Optimus has just a 9% chance of releasing by June 30, and the Robovan sits at 14% to open orders before 2027. Musk has pitched robotaxis as Tesla’s future, but Polymarket gives the company just a 14% chance of launching a robotaxi service in California by June 30. Waymo is already operating in ten U.S. cities. TSLA is trading at $376, down roughly 25% from its 52-week high of $498.83. Image: Shutterstock