China's BYD, however, looks set to close the gap after reporting 1.76 million EV sales in 2024. The Shenzhen-based firm's total vehicle sales jumped more than 41% in 2024, year-on-year, to more than 4.2 million. The surge was powered mainly by sales of its hybrid cars.

Tesla just experienced its first annual sales decline in over a decade, signaling a significant shift on the global EV scene in 2024. The only major market where it experienced growth last year was China, even though the trend among Chinese EV buyers was to move away from foreign brands and buy locally made models instead.

Chinese electric-vehicle growth continued in December, with BYD taking the crown of largest global seller from Tesla for the second time. Growth alone, however, wasn’t enough to give all Chinese EV stocks a boost on Thursday.