In recent days, a piece of news claiming that "for the first time, global sales of new energy vehicles have eclipsed those of fuel-powered vehicles" has been making the rounds on the internet. Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, shared this news, remarking, "The industry has hit a significant milestone, and it's likely that nearly all vehicles in the future will be purely electric."

However, this news is nothing but a hoax. Apart from a handful of countries where new energy vehicle sales have indeed surpassed those of fuel-powered vehicles, the latter still dominate the global market, constituting over 70% of the new vehicle sales share. It's no small feat for new energy vehicles to overtake fuel-powered vehicles in global sales.

Mobility Global, a U.S.-based provider of automotive ecosystem data and analytics, released a statistic indicating that in the first half of 2026, pure gasoline vehicles accounted for 49% of global new vehicle sales, dipping below the 50% mark for the first time.

According to Mobility Global's data: In the first half of this year, pure gasoline vehicles made up 49% of global new vehicle sales, pure hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) accounted for 18%, pure electric vehicles (BEVs) 17%, diesel vehicles 10%, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) 6%.

Based on these statistics, in the first half of this year, fuel-powered vehicles still represented over 70% of global sales, while new energy vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) accounted for a mere 23%.

The source of this confusion primarily stems from some media outlets' misrepresentation of concepts, treating pure gasoline vehicles as synonymous with fuel-powered vehicles and twisting the fact that pure gasoline vehicle sales have dropped below 50% into a narrative of "new energy vehicles surpassing fuel-powered vehicles."

In the automotive industry, there's a general consensus that new energy vehicles primarily encompass pure electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (EREVs). Pure hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and diesel vehicles are all categorized as fuel-powered vehicles.

It's worth noting that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) still come equipped with internal combustion engines and require fuel. If these two types of vehicles were also classified as fuel-powered vehicles, the proportion of fuel-powered vehicle sales among new vehicles would be even higher.

China has maintained its position as the global leader in new energy vehicle sales for 11 consecutive years, accounting for over 70% of the global market. According to relevant statistics, in 2025, global new energy vehicle sales are projected to exceed 21.6 million, with China contributing 16.49 million, or 76%. Among these, global pure electric vehicle sales are expected to reach 14.36 million, with China accounting for 10.6 million, or 73.8%. Global plug-in hybrid vehicle sales are anticipated to hit 7.23 million, with China making up 5.9 million, or 81.6%.

In the first nine months of 2026, domestic sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China reached 7.667 million, while domestic sales of fuel-powered passenger vehicles during the same period stood at 5.127 million, with new energy passenger vehicles accounting for 60%. Nevertheless, on a global scale, the inflection point has yet to arrive. In the first half of the year, new energy vehicles (BEVs + PHEVs) made up less than 30% of global new vehicle sales, still a significant gap away from surpassing fuel-powered vehicles. (End)