For the first time on record, petrol-only cars made up less than half of the world’s new car sales. Fresh data from Mobility Global puts their share at 49 per cent for the first half of 2026, down from 73 per cent in 2021. However, hybrids are gaining ground just as quickly as fully electric models.
What do the new figures show?
Mobility Global is the auto data firm formerly known as S&P Global Mobility. It was spun off from S&P Global earlier in 2026. Its first-half numbers show how far the market has moved.
Between January and June, sales of petrol-only cars fell 10 per cent year on year to 20.25 million units. As a result, their share slipped three points in a single year, from 52 to 49 per cent. Meanwhile, battery-electric vehicle sales grew 12 per cent to 6.87 million units. That gave them 17 per cent of the market, up three points. Conventional hybrids also rose 10 per cent, reaching 7.27 million units and an 18 per cent share.
Together, those three groups add up to 84 per cent. That leaves roughly 16 per cent, which covers diesel, plug-in hybrids and a handful of minor fuels.
Why are drivers moving away from petrol?
The first-half analysis links the shift to oil. Fuel prices spiked with the conflict in the Middle East, so buyers went looking for lower running costs. At the same time, the overall car market shrank by about 5 per cent in the first half, according to the IEA. In other words, petrol-only sales fell roughly twice as fast as the market as a whole.
China saw the steepest drop, with petrol car sales down 26 per cent. Europe followed with a 13 per cent fall. In the EU, ACEA registration data shows battery-electric cars narrowly ahead of petrol cars for the year to August. The tally stands at 1,641,333 against 1,634,733, while petrol registrations fell 18.6 per cent.
Where is EV growth strongest?
Mobility Global’s regional figures show where the momentum lies. Battery-electric sales rose 32 per cent in Europe to 1.81 million. Southeast Asia jumped 81 per cent to 350,000, and Oceania more than doubled to 110,000. By contrast, China dipped 3 per cent to 3.44 million, though that’s still half the global total. North America fell 15 per cent.
Yoshiaki Kawano, an associate director at Mobility Global, said few EV buyers return to petrol cars or hybrids. He also expects demand based on “genuine consumer needs rather than subsidies” to grow as prices fall. Similarly, a CDK study from July found that 94 per cent of EV owners said they wouldn’t go back to petrol.
Does this mean most new cars are now electric?
Far from it. The 49 per cent figure only covers cars that run on petrol alone. Hybrids sit in a separate category, and they outsold battery-electric models in the first half, 7.27 million to 6.87 million. A conventional hybrid still burns petrol, just less of it. Likewise, diesels and plug-in hybrids sit in the remaining 16 per cent.
Only the 17 per cent of sales that’s fully battery-electric uses no fuel at all. Therefore, roughly 83 per cent of new vehicles sold worldwide in the first half of 2026 still came with an engine. It’s also worth remembering that this is a six-month snapshot taken during an oil shock. So it remains to be seen whether the full-year figure stays below 50 per cent.
What’s happening in the US?
Some commentators have argued the US is the exception, with petrol cars regaining ground since the federal tax credit ended. EV sales there have certainly taken a hit. Cox Automotive forecasts about 239,000 new EV sales in the third quarter. That’s roughly 6 per cent of the market and about 45 per cent below the 437,000 sold a year earlier. Back then, buyers rushed to beat the 30 September deadline for the credit. In addition, Ford reported in early October that its EV sales fell 80 per cent in the third quarter.
Even so, those buyers haven’t flocked back to conventional cars. According to Cox, the US share of petrol and diesel cars actually dipped in the second quarter, from 77.6 to 76.8 per cent. Meanwhile, hybrids climbed from 13.0 to a record 16.3 per cent, with volume up 23 per cent. Battery-electric share fell from 7.4 to 5.8 per cent, and plug-in hybrids slipped from 2.0 to 1.1 per cent.
Overall, electrified vehicles rose from 22.4 to 23.2 per cent of the US market. Cox also notes that petrol has climbed back to around $4.50 a gallon, up 41 per cent on a year ago.
So what should we take from the milestone?
Petrol-only cars have gone from 73 to 49 per cent of global sales in under five years. Nothing in the latest data suggests they’ll win that share back. However, the shift runs through hybrids as much as through batteries, at least for now. Meanwhile, EV growth has slowed in the US, while much of the rest of the world keeps moving towards electric cars.
