New Delhi: In India, the CNG, hybrid powered and electric vehicles have sold more than petrol vehicles for the first time in the history of the nation. This occurred in August 2026, signifying a considerable shift in Indian buyers’ preference.
Numbers compiled by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) revealed that sales of CNG, hybrid and electric cars accounted for nearly 42% of the total in new car market last month. The next most popular were petrol and ethanol vehicles at 41%. Cleaner fuel options now lead, petrol is still the single largest fuel type, but it is not leading.
This is a quick turnaround change. Just over a year ago, petrol cars were far ahead, leading by almost 11 percentage points. This gap is now completely filled. The most significant role was played by the CNG vehicles. They own 25% up from 21% a year ago. Maruti Suzuki is the top car maker with CNG technology followed by Tata Motors and Hyundai.
But electric cars had a strong month as well. Sales of EVs are up 52% from the previous year to approximately 30,700 units. That put EVs at 7.7% of the market, which was higher than a year ago when they held a 5.9% market share but was marginally lower than July’s record of 8.1%.
Equirus Securities report indicates that the fear of consumers changing to E20 fuel may have resulted in a diversion in favour of CNG and hybrid/electric vehicles.
The most important part of this is that this change did not occur because the volume of cars sold had gotten smaller. Indeed, total car sales are 16% up on last year, thanks to lower prices following recent GST tax cuts. People are driving more cars and more of them are opting for something other than simple petrol.
This is an indicator of the fact that the Indian automotive industry is increasingly embracing the idea of cleaner, cheaper running cars and not just Electric Vehicles (EVs), experts said.
