For the first time since leaded gasoline helped make combustion engines the standard in the 1920s, pure gas-powered vehicles have fallen below half of all new-car sales worldwide.

According to data from Mobility Global cited by Nikkei Asia, gas-only vehicles—excluding hybrids and other electrified models—made up just 49% of global new-vehicle sales in the first half of this year. That's a steep drop from 2021, when combustion-only cars still commanded 73% of the market. In total, automakers sold 20.25 million gas-only vehicles worldwide during the first six months of the year, a 10% decline compared to the same period last year.

The shift comes as oil prices have climbed amid conflict in the Middle East, pushing more buyers toward EVs and hybrids as fuel and upkeep costs for traditional cars rise. Mobility Global associate director Yoshiaki Kawano said EV adoption had slowed around 2024 as subsidy cuts favored hybrids, but that higher oil prices have since renewed interest in electric vehicles' lower running costs, reigniting sales growth.

China remains the largest EV market by far, buying half of all electric vehicles sold globally, though its volume slipped 3% to 3.44 million units after incentives were pulled back in January. North America saw an even steeper decline, with EV sales down 15%.

Other regions are picking up the slack. Europe, boosted by affordable models like the Renault 5 E-Tech, saw EV sales jump 32% to 1.81 million units. Southeast Asia posted an 81% surge to 350,000 units, while Oceania more than doubled its EV sales to 110,000.

Altogether, global EV sales reached 6.87 million units in the first half of the year, up 12% from a year earlier, while hybrid sales rose 10% to 7.27 million units. EVs now represent 17% of all new-vehicle sales worldwide—still far behind gas cars' 49% share, but closing the gap faster than many expected.

Analysts at Mobility Global predict EVs will exceed 30% of global vehicle production by 2030, surpassing both hybrids and combustion vehicles, including diesels. Kawano noted that EV buyers rarely go back to gasoline or hybrid models once they switch, and that as prices keep falling, demand increasingly reflects genuine consumer preference rather than reliance on subsidies.

The numbers suggest that after a hundred years at the center of the auto industry, the internal combustion engine's dominance is entering its twilight, even as the transition unfolds unevenly across different parts of the world.

Source: InsideEVs

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