Gasoline-only cars are now a minority of new vehicles sold worldwide. They made up 49% of sales in the first half of 2026 C.E., down from 73% in 2021 C.E., according to Nikkei’s analysis of Mobility Global data. Nikkei reported it as the first time on record that the share has dropped below half.
At a glance
- Share: The gasoline-only share fell 3 percentage points in a year, the Seoul Economic Daily reported from Nikkei’s data.
- Sales: Gasoline-only sales fell 10% to 20.25 million cars, with drops of 26% in China and 13% in Europe.
- Replacements: Battery-electric cars took 17% of sales and hybrids about 18%, EVXL reported.
Where gasoline-only cars are losing ground
China buys about half of the world’s battery-electric cars, so its swing matters most. Gasoline-only sales there fell 26%. Battery-electric sales slipped 3% to 3.44 million after tax breaks were scaled back in January.
Europe shows the shift more clearly. Gasoline-only sales fell 13% while battery-electric sales rose 32% to 1.81 million.
The E.U. offers a sharper view. From January through August, battery-electric cars matched petrol at a 21.7% share of registrations, the carmakers’ trade group ACEA reported. A year earlier, petrol led 28% to 15.8%. Hybrids were the top choice at 36.6%.
Germany stands out. Battery-electric cars made up about one in four new cars from January through August, and one in three in August. That is according to German researchers at DIW Berlin, as cited by EVXL. A purchase premium for electric cars began there in January.
Smaller markets grew fast, too. Battery-electric sales rose 81% to 350,000 in Southeast Asia and more than doubled to 110,000 in Oceania.
What pushed buyers away from gasoline
Nikkei linked the drop to higher gasoline prices and supply worries. Tensions had pushed up crude oil prices. A war in the Middle East disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, OilPrice.com reported.
The International Energy Agency saw the same pattern. Global electric car sales rose 35% in the second quarter from the first, with records in 50 countries, the agency said. Sales roughly doubled in Australia, Brazil, India, South Korea, and Viet Nam between March and June, compared with the same months in 2025 C.E.
Mobility Global analyst Yoshiaki Kawano said few electric car buyers go back to gasoline cars or hybrids. He said that if electric car prices keep falling, demand that does not rely on subsidies will also grow.
What this does not mean
Gasoline-only is not gasoline-free. Hybrids still burn gasoline, and they outsold battery-electric cars in the half.
Electric sales also fell in two big markets. North American battery-electric sales dropped 15% after U.S. incentives were withdrawn, and China’s slipped as well.
Part of the shift followed an oil price shock. It is too soon to say whether it will last. The data covers only six months. It also leaves out some large vehicles. The reports do not say what makes up the other 16% of sales.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Nikkei Asia
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- 25% of new car sales in China were fully electric in 2023 for the first time ever
- Battery costs have declined 99% worldwide over three decades
- The Good News for Humankind archive on clean and renewable energy
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