India's Shift Beyond Petrol Reaches A Historic Milestone. But Who Dominates The EV Market?

The choice of cars among Indian consumers is changing rapidly. While many enthusiasts proudly call themselves "petrolheads", fewer buyers are opting for petrol cars today. For the first time, alternative-fuel vehicles, including EVs, hybrids and CNG cars, have collectively captured a larger market share than petrol-powered cars.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the market share of petrol and ethanol-powered cars declined from 46.37 per cent in August 2025 to 41.68 per cent in July 2026, before falling further to 40.85 per cent in August 2026. In contrast, the combined share of alternative-fuel vehicles rose from 35.26 per cent in August 2025 to 40.59 per cent in July 2026 and further to 41.95 per cent in August 2026, surpassing petrol cars for the first time.

Among alternative-fuel vehicles, CNG cars accounted for the largest share at 25.28 per cent in August 2026, followed by hybrids at 9.04 per cent and EVs at 7.63 per cent. Notably, the share of electric passenger vehicles increased from 5.8 per cent in August 2025 to 7.63 per cent in August 2026.

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The electric passenger vehicle market remains highly concentrated. Tata Motors led the segment with nearly 43 per cent market share,

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followed by Mahindra & Mahindra at 21.1 per cent. JSW MG Motor and VinFast Auto ranked third and fourth, respectively, while India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, was fifth.

"August 2026 was the biggest-ever August for electric mobility in India. EV retails across categories reached 2,98,448 units, up 52.9 per cent year-on-year, taking overall EV penetration to 12.3 per cent from 9.5 per cent a year ago," FADA President Sai Giridhar said. "Remarkably, every one of the four EV categories set a fresh August record. There was not a single category that failed to do so," he added.