Porsche Says Goodbye to Diesel Once and For All

Porsche has decided not to produce any diesel models in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal that hit its parent company, Volkswagen. According to Wall Street Journal, it would be the first German car maker to stop making diesel engines.

The announcement was released five months after a Porsche senior manager was arrested for rigging a diesel emissions test at Volkswagen. Also known as Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal, it erupted in 2015 after the car maker was caught cheating on its carbon emissions test.

According to Bild am Sonntag, one of the vehicles that violated the rules was the Porsche Cayenne EU5 model’s 8-cylinder diesel. This led Porsche to recall nearly 60,000 Macan and Cayenne diesels as it launched its own investigation.

Not 'demonizing diesel" engines

Meanwhile, Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume said in a statement that "Porsche is not demonizing diesel."

"It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology," he said. "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."

Porsche wants to focus more on its hybrid vehicles, which are doing well in the European market. Its Taycan model, which is the company's first fully-electric sports is also lined up for next year.

Aside from the scandal, diesel sales have also been declining as well. According to Porsche, only 12 percent of their global sales last year could be credited to diesel engine vehicles.

Here is Porsche's statement in full: By 2022, Porsche will have invested more than six billion euros in e-mobility, creating the basis for sustainable growth into the future. Interest in hybrid models is already taking off. 63 percent of the Panameras sold in Europe, for example, are hybrid models. Demand for diesel models, on the other hand, is dropping. In 2017, the diesel share of worldwide Porsches was 12 percent. Porsche has not had a diesel in its portfolio since February of this year. Due to this change in conditions, the company has decided to no longer offer diesel propulsion in future. “Porsche is not demonising diesel. 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,” says Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche AG. With the Taycan, Porsche will bring its first purely electric sports car to the market in 2019 – its manufacture is CO₂ neutral and it is supplied with green electricity via an ultra-fast charging infrastructure spread over Europe. By 2025, every second new Porsche vehicle could have an electric drive – either hybrid or purely electric. The sports car manufacturer is also concentrating on optimised internal combustion engines. Purist, emotional and powerful sports cars will thus continue to play an important role in the Porsche product portfolio. Blume stresses: “Our aim is to occupy the technological vanguard – we are intensifying our focus on the core of our brand while consistently aligning our company with the mobility of the future.”