For the first time, not a single gasoline-only car made it into China’s ten best-selling passenger vehicles in May 2026. Every spot now is taken by either a fully electric or a plug-in hybrid model.
The hints of this being real were long coming. Back in January, seven of the ten top-selling cars still ran on gasoline. By March, that number had dropped to five. In April, just one gas-powered Geely Binyue made it to the list. Now, in May, it’s zero.
Sales rankings compiled by Autohome and Autodext show five models claiming the top spots across both lists: the Geely Star Wish, Tesla Model Y, Xiaomi SU7, Leapmotor A10, and Li Auto i6. The two sources diverge a bit further down the list, but they agree on what isn’t there: a combustion engine in sight.
A Market in Free Fall for Gas
China’s passenger car retail sales hit 1.51 million units in May, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). That’s a 22.1% drop compared to the same month last year, though it was up about 9% from April.
It’s gas-powered vehicles that took the brunt of that fall. Even though they still held 37.1% of the market by volume in May, they were responsible for a staggering 82% of the total year-over-year sales decline. The CPCA points to high oil prices as a key driver for the decline.
Meanwhile, new energy vehicles, including both pure EVs and plug-in hybrids, now account for 62.9% of retail passenger car sales in China. And it’s the third straight month the figure has exceeded 60%.
Wholesale vs. Retail
It’s worth flagging that the CPCA did not release an official retail sales ranking for May. The top-10 retail figures come from third-party trackers. On the wholesale side, which captures what manufacturers ship to dealers rather than what consumers actually buy, the picture is somewhat different.
BYD dominates that list. The BYD Song led wholesale rankings with over 75,000 units, followed by the Tesla Model Y at around 54,000. Several BYD models appear in the top five, and a handful of gasoline vehicles — including the Chery Tiggo 7 and Geely Binyue — still show up further down. So gas cars aren’t completely out of the supply chain. They’re just not what people are choosing to take home anymore.
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