BYD Company Limited

Chinese automaker that sold more than 2.2 million battery-electric vehicles in 2025, surpassing Tesla for global EV leadership. - Surpassed Tesla as world's largest EV maker

Joe Ward, who started at Tesla as a logistics intern in 2010, now oversees global sales for a company hemorrhaging senior executives. His promotion follows Raj Jegannathan's departure after just months as North American sales chief—the second person to leave that role in under a year. Since April 2024, Tesla has lost more than a dozen senior leaders, including its head of batteries, its supercharging director, and the executive who ran operations across North America and Europe.

Updated Feb 10

China's largest EV manufacturer and Tesla's main global competitor, known for affordable models like the $14,000 Seagull. - Potential entrant to Canadian market

Canada followed the U.S. in imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in October 2024. Seventeen months later, Prime Minister Mark Carney flew to Beijing and cut them to 6.1%—the first explicit break with American trade policy since Trump began his tariff offensive. The deal allows 49,000 Chinese EVs into Canada annually in exchange for China slashing canola tariffs from 84% to 15%, unlocking $3 billion in agricultural exports. The quota rises to 70,000 vehicles over five years, with half reserved for models under $35,000 CAD by 2030. Chinese automakers BYD and Chery have already met with Canadian officials about building production facilities on Canadian soil.

Updated Jan 31

Chinese automaker that surpassed Tesla as the world's largest EV seller in 2025. - World's largest EV seller (2025)

China posted a $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025—the largest any country has ever recorded. The number is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Indonesia, the world's 16th-largest economy. It comes after seven years of U.S. tariffs designed to shrink that very surplus, and eight days after Canada struck a deal with Beijing that slashed Chinese EV tariffs from 100% to 6.1%, marking a dramatic shift in Western trade policy toward China that prompted Trump to threaten 100% retaliatory tariffs on Canadian goods.

Updated Jan 30