Pure Gasoline Cars Fall Below 50% of Global New-Car Sales for First Time

The headline number matters less than the pace of the shift: a 24-point decline in the gasoline share over roughly five years is a structural change in the global auto mix, not a cyclical dip. The affected parties are legacy automakers and the fuel, refining and aftermarket chains built around combustion-only fleets, whose volumes now shrink even where total car sales grow. The open question is whether the decline continues at this rate or plateaus, since the remaining gasoline buyers may be harder to convert.