Chinese Automakers Overtake Japan in 2025 Global Sales, Led by BYD and Geely
Chinese automakers have become the world’s top-selling carmakers for the first time in 25 years, overtaking Japan in 2025 and tightening their grip on the industry’s shift toward electrification.
According to a March 21 report by Nikkei, China’s auto manufacturers sold about 27 million vehicles globally in 2025, edging past Japanese carmakers at roughly 25 million and ending Japan’s run at the top since 2000.
The reshuffle is already visible at the company level: BYD and Geely surpassed Nissan and Honda in annual sales rankings, while Nissan fell out of the global top 10 for the first time since 2004. For investors, the message is straightforward: scale is consolidating in China just as EV volume is becoming the decisive metric for global influence.
Ranking Shifts Recast the Global Auto Leaderboard
Nikkei, citing automakers and MarkLines data, said six Chinese automakers ranked among the world’s top 20 by 2025 sales, compared with five from Japan. BYD sold 4.6 million vehicles, up 8% year-on-year, ranking No. 6 globally and exceeding Nissan and Ford. Geely sold 4.11 million, up 23%, ranking No. 8 and surpassing Honda.
Chery, Changan, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motor also made the global top 20, underscoring that China’s gains are broad-based rather than concentrated in a single champion.
Japan’s largest player remained resilient but increasingly isolated at the top. Toyota held the No. 1 spot with 11.32 million vehicles, marking its sixth straight year as the world’s biggest individual automaker. Honda’s sales fell 8% to 3.52 million, sliding to No. 9, while Nissan’s sales declined 4% to 3.2 million, dropping to No. 11.
EV Momentum Pushes BYD Past Tesla in Pure Electric Sales
Stellantis said in its Feb. 26 financial report that Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and General Motors stayed in the global top four by 2025 sales, with Stellantis ranking fifth at more than 5.4 million vehicles. The same report flagged rising positions for BYD, SAIC Motor and Geely, and confirmed Nissan’s exit from the top 10.
The clearest strategic inflection point is in battery-electric vehicles. Stellantis’ report said BYD’s full-year sales reached 4.602 million, with pure EV sales at 2.2567 million, up 27.86%, surpassing Tesla to become the world’s top seller of electric vehicles by volume. Even if quarterly volatility persists, Stellantis characterized BYD’s performance as resilient, a framing that matters for market expectations around scale economics in EV supply chains.
Market Share Data Shows China Converting Domestic Scale Into Global Share
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association’s passenger-car market information joint conference, said China’s global share continued to rise in 2025. China’s automakers reached a global share of 40% in November, up 1 percentage point from a year earlier, and held 37% in December. For the full year, China’s global market share rose to 35.6% from 34.2% in 2024, a 1.4 percentage-point gain.
On the production side, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said 2025 auto production and sales reached 34.531 million and 34.40 million units, up 10.4% and 9.4% respectively, setting new records and keeping China as the world’s largest auto market for a 17th consecutive year. The scale at home continues to function as a launchpad for global share capture, particularly as EVs and software-led features reset competitive benchmarks.
Overseas Growth Strengthens China Automakers’ Cost and Volume Flywheel
Chinese automakers also expanded overseas in ways that reinforce their volume advantage. BYD’s overseas sales reached 1.05 million vehicles, up 145% year-on-year, while SAIC Motor sold 1.071 million vehicles abroad, up 3.1%.
Nikkei cited Mizuho Bank’s automotive analyst Tang Jin as saying China’s total sales surpassing Japan is more than a ranking change, marking a restructuring of global automotive influence. Nikkei also warned that without adjustments to costs and technology competitiveness, Japan’s auto industry risks falling further behind Chinese peers.
For global incumbents, the competitive center of gravity is increasingly tied to China’s pace of iteration. Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said on Feb. 25, during German Chancellor Merz’s China trip, that China is not only a sales market but also an innovation source and technology partner, adding that in electric mobility, software, AI and battery technology, China is setting the development tempo and shaping standards.
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