E20 Fears Haven’t Slowed Car Sales, Even As Petrol’s Share Slips
Indians Bought 25.4 Lakh Cars From April To September 2026, Up 24.5% On A Year Ago, And Every Month Of 2026 Grew. Petrol’s Share Of New Cars Fell From 47.5% To 41.3%, With EVs Gaining The Most.
CarsTwo-WheelersThree-WheelersCommercialTractorsConstr. EqptNumbers On Bars: Total · Inside Green: Cars (Lakh)
Swipe The Chart Sideways For Earlier Months →
Hover Any Month For Every Category, And Growth On A Year Ago For 2026. Units Are As First Published By FADA; Growth Is FADA’s Own, Measured Against Its Revised Year-Ago Figures.
Cars Sold, Apr To Sep 2026
25.4 Lakh
Up 24.5% On A Year Ago
Months Of Car Sales Growth
9 Of 9
Every Month Of 2026 Up On A Year Ago
Petrol Share Of New Cars
41.3%
Sep 2026, From 47.2% A Year Ago
CNG + Hybrid + EV Share
41.0%
Sep 2026, From 35.1% A Year Ago
The Bottom Line
The E20 Debate Has Not Dented How Many Cars Indians Buy: Car Sales Grew In All Nine Months Of 2026. Over The Same Months, Petrol’s Share Of New Cars Fell Six Points, With EVs Gaining The Most. FADA’s Dealers Name E20 Hesitation As One Reason In Two Monthly Reports; FADA Points More Often To Fuel Prices, Running Costs And New Models. Petrol Cars Still Sold More Than A Year Ago, Just Less Quickly.
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Share Of New Car Sales By Fuel, 2026
PetrolCNG + Hybrid + EVPetrol, 2025
Hover Any Month For The Exact Shares. The Dashed Line Is Petrol A Year Earlier; FADA’s Releases Carry No Year-Ago Figure For January Or March.
Growth On A Year Ago, Each Month Of 2026
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Apr To Sep
All Vehicles
+17.6%
+25.6%
+25.3%
+12.9%
+9.5%
+21.8%
+25.9%
+17.5%
+31.8%
+20.8%
Cars
+7.2%
+26.1%
+21.5%
+12.2%
+23.2%
+28.6%
+19.1%
+16.1%
+32.1%
+24.5%
Two-Wheelers
+20.8%
+25.0%
+28.7%
+13.0%
+7.5%
+21.2%
+28.3%
+19.7%
+33.1%
+20.4%
Three-Wheelers
+18.8%
+24.4%
+10.5%
+7.2%
+3.6%
+16.2%
+16.2%
+8.6%
+22.2%
+15.0%
Commercial
+15.1%
+28.9%
+15.1%
+15.0%
+5.3%
+16.9%
+24.0%
+14.5%
+37.6%
+21.5%
Tractors
+22.9%
+36.4%
+10.9%
+23.2%
+11.2%
+25.3%
+28.1%
+0.8%
+13.7%
+19.8%
What The Data Shows
Car Sales Kept Growing
Indians Bought 25.4 Lakh Cars From April To September 2026, Up 24.5% On A Year Ago, FADA’s Best-Ever First Half. Every Month Of 2026 Grew, From +7.2% In January To +32.1% In September. All Vehicles Together Rose 20.8%, To 1.55 Crore.
Petrol Is Losing Share, And EVs Gained The Most
Petrol’s Share Of New Cars Fell From 47.5% In January To 41.3% In September, Against 47.2% A Year Earlier. CNG, Hybrids And EVs Together Rose From 35.5% To 41.0%, And In August They Overtook Petrol For The First Time (41.95% Against 40.85%); In September The Two Were Level. Against September 2025, EVs Gained 2.7 Points (5.7% To 8.5%), Hybrids 2.1 (7.3% To 9.4%) And CNG 1.1 (22.0% To 23.1%), While Diesel Held At 17.7%.
Why Buyers Are Shifting: What FADA Says
FADA’s Reasons, Report By Report: In March, Elevated Fuel-Price Concerns, With Buyers Weighing Total Cost Of Ownership. In May, A Fuel-Price Revision That Dealers Said Lifted Enquiries For Fuel-Efficient And Alternative-Powertrain Models, Alongside New Launches And A Richer CNG, Hybrid And EV Mix. In July And August Only, Hesitation Over The E20 Transition, With August Putting Running-Cost Economics First. September Points To Rising EV Interest. The Only Incentive FADA Mentions Is For Two-Wheelers. The Shift Was Already Under Way In 2025: CNG, Hybrid And EV Share Rose From 32.1% In February To 35.1% In September. These Data Cannot Separate The Causes.
Petrol Cars Still Sold More, Just Less Quickly
Multiplying Car Sales By Petrol’s Share Gives An Estimate Of Petrol Cars Sold. On That Basis, Petrol Cars Still Grew On A Year Ago In Every Month With Data, But Growth Slowed From +20.3% In February To +2.3% In August, Before +15.6% In September. Petrol Car Sales Still Rose, While A Growing Share Of Buyers Chose Other Fuels.
What Else Lifted Sales
The GST 2.0 Rate Cut Of 22 September 2025 Made Cars Cheaper, And October 2025 Was The Peak Month At 40.2 Lakh Vehicles, 5.6 Lakh Of Them Cars. Part Of 2026’s Growth Reflects Those Lower Prices, Not Only Steady Demand.
Sources & Method
Units
FADA Monthly Vehicle Retail Data, Compiled From VAHAN Registrations, February 2025 To September 2026, Via The PolityPolicy Pulse Auto Tracker. Each Month Is As First Published; April To September Totals Are FADA’s Own First-Half Figures, Which Include Its Later Revisions. Checked Against FADA’s February To September 2026 Releases: 55 Of 56 Category-Month Figures Matched Exactly; The Last Could Not Be Read From The PDF Layout.
Growth
FADA’s Own Year-On-Year Figures. FADA Revises Year-Ago Numbers Upward As Late Registrations Arrive, So Its Growth Is Lower Than A Straight Comparison Of The Bars Would Suggest.
Fuel Shares
From The Passenger Vehicle Fuel Table In Each FADA Monthly Release, As First Published; January And March 2026 From The Following Month’s Release. 2025 Shares Are The Year-Ago Column, Which Does Not Cover January Or March. Alternative Fuels = CNG/LPG + Hybrid + EV.
E20 Appears In Only Two Of FADA’s Eight 2026 Monthly Releases Read Here, February To September: July, Which Says Consumer “Hesitation Around The E20 Transition Nudged Buyers Towards CNG, Hybrids And EVs”, And August, Which Puts Running-Cost Economics First. FADA’s March And May Releases Instead Point To Fuel Prices, Including A May 2026 Fuel-Price Revision. All Are Dealers’ Assessments, Not Measured Effects. Construction Equipment Is Reported From May 2025 Only. Source: FADA; Monthly Series Also On politypolicy.com/pulse/AutoSales.
