Gas cars fall below 50% of global new car sales for the first time

Gas-only cars made up 49% of new car sales worldwide in the first half of 2026, the first time they've fallen below half, according to industry data. That's down from 73% just five years ago. But most of what's replacing them still burns gas: conventional hybrids (cars that pair a gas engine with a battery to save fuel) actually outsold fully electric cars, 7.27 million to 6.87 million. Add in diesels and plug-in hybrids, and roughly 83% of new cars sold globally this year still have an engine of some kind. Only the 17% that are fully battery-electric burn no fuel at all.

The shift is sharpest in China and Europe, where fully electric cars have pulled ahead of or nearly matched gas-only sales. Rising fuel prices, tied partly to conflict in the Middle East, pushed buyers toward cheaper-to-run options.

The US is the outlier. After a federal tax credit for electric vehicles expired, EV sales here dropped sharply in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, when buyers rushed to beat the deadline. But those buyers mostly shifted to hybrids, not back to pure gas cars — hybrid sales hit a record 16.3% share of the US market, while gas and diesel's combined share actually dipped slightly. For homeowners weighing an EV or a hybrid, the takeaway is that once people switch away from gas-only vehicles, they rarely switch back, even when subsidies disappear or gas prices swing.