BYD overtakes Tesla as the Middle East’s top EV brand

It’s BYD’s world and we’re just living in it. The Chinese automaker has overtaken Tesla as the dominant EV brand in the Middle East, capturing around 60% of regional sales just three years after entering the market, according to the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook (pdf). Tesla, which accounted for about half of regional EV sales in 2020, now only holds a market share of around 15%. That sharp reversal mirrors the broader displacement of Western and legacy carmakers by Chinese rivals across emerging EV markets.

BYD is capturing a bigger slice of a bigger pie: Overall, electric vehicle sales in the Middle East were at around 75k in 2025, rising more than 40% y-o-y, the report said. The UAE continued to lead the pack, accounting for nearly half of all regional sales — although its share of the regional total dipped from more than 60% in 2023, as Qatar and Saudi Arabia began to catch up. The two Gulf neighbors together now represent close to 45% of regional demand.

BYD’s rise in the Gulf is part of a wider Chinese push into emerging EV markets after an intense domestic price war in China squeezed automakers’ profit margins and prompted them to seek higher returns abroad. Chinese-made electric car exports doubled globally in 2025, and more than half of overseas sales took place outside Europe and the US. Exports to the Middle East jumped 60% from 2024 levels, compared with a 130% rise in Southeast Asia and a 55% increase in Latin American. Middle East and African markets now import more than 80% of their electric cars from China.

Want to go deeper? Check out Why Egypt’s CEOs are opting for Chinese luxury cars overRange Rovers and Egypt’s EV future is here — it just has a backup engine from our Egypt desk.