In the first half of 2026, the share of cars with pure petrol engines fell below half of global sales for the first time. This is reported by the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei, which summarized global statistics.
According to the publication, in the first six months of 2026, 20.25 million petrol cars were sold worldwide — 10% fewer than a year earlier. Their share of total sales decreased by 4 percentage points and for the first time amounted to 49%. For comparison: in 2021, this figure reached 73%.
Nikkei attributes this trend to a sharp rise in petrol prices amid the crisis in the Persian Gulf zone and rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles, including in China. In the first half of 2026, almost 6.9 million electric cars were sold worldwide — 12% more than in the same period of 2025.
At the same time, hybrids are so far maintaining a strong position in the global market. The fastest shift away from pure petrol models is occurring in China — it now accounts for 50% of global electric vehicle sales.