Which Auto Brands Will Lead EV Sales Worldwide in Next 3 Years? You Tell Us! (Charts)

Last Updated on: 11th June 2025, 12:34 pm

I recently surveyed our readership on which auto brands are likely to lead the world in electric vehicle (EV) sales in the next three years. In particular, I asked you to provide your best guess for the #1 best selling EV producer, #2 best selling EV producer, and #3 best selling EV producer for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027. The results are in, so let’s take a look at who you chose.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #1 In World BEV Sales In 2025?

Coming as no surprise, the overwhelming choice for the EV best seller in 2025 was BYD. BYD recently surpassed Tesla for the #1 spot, and Tesla sales have been dropping while BYD sales have been rising. In the end, 90.8% of respondents predicted BYD would take its first yearly title, while 3.6% predicted Tesla would bounce back and take it. Surprisingly, 2.8% had faith that Hyundai could rise up and take the title. That would be something! A handful of people chose four other brands.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #2 In World BEV Sales In 2025?

There was a lot more divergence in the vote for #2. Tesla had the most votes, with 43.3% of people assuming it would slide into #2. Geely, as Jose Pontes has said, is the challenger to watch, with 19.9% of respondents choosing it to win the silver medal this year. Jumping over to Europe, 15.6% chose Volkswagen. A big step down, and headed back to China for a while, 5.7% chose BYD, 3.6% chose XPENG, 2.8% chose Xiaomi, and 2.1% chose NIO. Another 2.1% chose Kia and 1.4% chose Hyundai.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #3 In World BEV Sales In 2025?

Things are even tighter in the prediction for #3. Geely barely got the most votes, gathering 25.5% of responses. It was followed closely by Tesla, at 22.7% of responses, showing that there’s really a bit of a discussion this year about who will come in second behind BYD — Tesla or Geely. Though, Volkswagen also had a strong vote for third, with 18.4% of respondents choosing the high-selling German brand.

Now, going into 2026, how will things change?…

Which Auto Brand Will Be #1 In World BEV Sales In 2026?

Well, BYD had a similar place in the expectations of voters in 2026 as in 2025, but there was slightly less confidence that it would end at #1. Whereas 90.8% of respondents predicted BYD would take its first yearly title in 2025, slightly fewer, 87.2%, chose BYD for #1 in 2026. It was still a clear landslide, though.

Initially, I figured a slightly higher percentage of respondents put Tesla back on top, but that’s not the case! Only 2.8% of respondents thought Tesla would take the #1 spot in 2026. That’s less than the 3.6% vote for 2025. Another 2.1% of respondents chose Geely, 1.4% chose Leap Motor, 1.4% chose Toyota (bold), and 1.4% chose Kia.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #2 In World BEV Sales In 2026?

Geely rose to the most common choice for #2 in 2026 with 37.6% of the vote. Clearly, people see it being a brand on the rise, and see Tesla as being a brand on the fall. Volkswagen also had a strong showing, with 19.2% of votes, and Tesla was the third choice after garnering 15.6% of the vote. A handful of popular Chinese and South Korean models then got between 3.6% and 5.7% of the vote.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #3 In World BEV Sales In 2026?

Tesla did get the most votes for 3rd place in 2026, gathering 30.5% of the vote. Volkswagen took #2 (for 3rd place) with 21.3% of the vote, Geely took #3 with 10.6%, XPENG took #4 for 7.1%, Hyundai took #5 with 6.4%, and Xiaomi took #6 with 5.0%.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #1 In World BEV Sales In 2027?

Going forward two years (or two and a half years), to 2027, BYD was still king of the hill, taking 86.5% of the vote. No one was close. Tesla and Volkswagen each had only 2.1% of the vote, and, well, no other auto brand was even close to that. I was a little surprised more people didn’t see Geely rising into the #1 spot — but I wouldn’t have picked Geely either. BYD was the obvious choice given trends over the past few years.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #2 In World BEV Sales In 2027?

The 2nd place results are again much more interesting than the 1st place results. 39% of respondents believed Geely would take second place, 12.8% believed Volkswagen would, and 7.8% believed BYD would. (I’m curious now who people who put BYD in 2nd place thought would take 1st place.) Another 7.1% chose Xiaomi, and 7.1% chose Hyundai. Tesla was down tied for the 6th position with XPENG with 5.7% of the vote. So, clearly, the vast majority of respondents think Tesla won’t only lose its 1st place position but also the 2nd place position. As a final note on this one, Toyota slides in with 5% of the vote.

Which Auto Brand Will Be #3 In World BEV Sales In 2027?

To finish up, the 3rd place voting for 2027 is perhaps the most interesting. Volkswagen got the most votes, with 28.7% share. Tesla was the second most common choice, with 14.7% of the vote. XPENG and Hyundai shared the next spot, with 9.8% of the vote, Geely got 8.4%, Xiaomi got 7%, and Toyota again got 5%.

We’ll have to revisit these results when actual sales data comes in for 2025, 2026, and 2027 BEV sales. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, keep an eye on our world EV sales reports, and all of our EV sales reports.