Porsche has officially confirmed that it will no longer offer diesel vehicles in its range…
Following months of ambiguity Porsche has officially confirmed that it will no longer offer diesel vehicles in its range. The move, which was widely predicted within the automotive industry, comes in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal which first surfaced in 2015. Porsche never developed its own diesel engines, instead it took motors from its Volkswagen Group parent which found itself at the very centre of the ‘Dieselgate’ scandal. Like Volkswagen and Audi, Porsche offered a software update in 2017 for owners of its diesel vehicles fitted with ‘defeat devices’ – diesel Porsches were taken off sale earlier this year and the company has been vague about what that meant going forward.
Porsche has been offering diesel vehicles for a decade, however, it states that demand for diesel models is falling – in 2017 the worldwide share of Porsche vehicles so powered was just 12 percent. Instead of offering diesel engines the company will be ‘intensifying its activities in the areas of hybrid technology and electromobility’. By 2022 Porsche will have invested more than six billion Euros in e-mobility – already 63 percent of Panameras sold in Europe are hybrid models.
“Porsche is not demonising diesel,” said Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche. “It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology. We as a sports car manufacturer, however, for whom diesel has always played a secondary role, have come to the conclusion that we would like our future to be diesel-free. Naturally, we will continue to look after our existing diesel customers with the professionalism they expect.”
Porsche predicts that by 2025 every second Porsche vehicle sold could have either a hybrid or pure electric drive system. We fully except a hybrid 911 to be offered as part of the car’s model line-up during the life cycle of the next iteration of 911 (codenamed 992).
Below: Engine installation on the first diesel Porsche a decade ago…
