Petrol-powered cars still accounted for half of India’s passenger-vehicle registrations in August when petrol hybrids are included, challenging the impression that alternative-fuel vehicles have already overtaken petrol in the new-car market.
Data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations showed conventional petrol cars accounting for 40.8% of passenger-vehicle retail during the month. CNG, electric and hybrid vehicles together represented 41.9%, apparently moving ahead of petrol for the first time.
A fuel-wise analysis by JATO Dynamics, however, provides a different measure of the market. Its dataset covered 3,62,763 passenger-vehicle registrations in August and classified vehicles according to the power source they continue to use. Conventional petrol models accounted for 1,49,484 registrations, or 41.2% of the total.
JATO separately recorded 25,070 petrol-hybrid vehicles, representing 6.9% of registrations, and 6,956 strong hybrids, or 1.9%. When these categories are added to conventional petrol cars, the combined total rises to 1,81,510 registrations, equivalent to 50% of the market covered by the analysis.
The distinction matters because both mild and strong hybrids continue to use petrol engines. Their electric systems provide assistance and can reduce fuel consumption, but the vehicles remain dependent on petrol for operation. Treating them as alternatives to petrol therefore produces a different picture from classifying them as petrol-powered vehicles with hybrid technology.
“ Mild and strong hybrids use electric assistance differently, but both remain fundamentally dependent on an internal-combustion engine and petrol,” Ravi Bhatia, president and CEO of JATO Dynamics India, said. “They may reduce fuel consumption, but they should not be confused with vehicles that have moved away from petrol.”
The two datasets nevertheless point to a change in the composition of India’s new-car market. Conventional petrol-only vehicles are losing share as CNG cars, electric vehicles and hybrids expand. The data also shows why the definition used to classify hybrids can significantly influence assessments of the country’s transition away from petrol.
For consumers and policymakers, the August figures separate two developments that are often treated as one: the growth of vehicles using some form of electrification and the reduction of dependence on petrol itself. On the JATO classification, petrol-powered cars remained responsible for approximately half of passenger-vehicle registrations during the month, while the broader category of conventional petrol-only cars accounted for 41.2%.
JATO’s August fuel-mix data, along with the FADA retail figures, provide the latest reported snapshot of the competing trends. Conventional petrol cars are losing ground, but the market has not yet moved beyond petrol dependence when hybrid vehicles are counted by the fuel they require.
