Porsche Officially Says Goodbye to Diesel

We reported a year ago that Porsche was thinking about giving diesel the axe, and now it’s finally happening. In a statement, the automaker announced it will no longer offer diesel vehicles, shifting its focus to electrified cars.

Porsche cites a change in consumer demand. Diesels accounted for 12 percent of its global sales last year, the automaker points out. That sounds like a lot of vehicles Porsche is willing to give up, but it’s counting on hybrids to pick up the slack. A whopping 63 percent of Panamera models sold in Europe are hybrids, signaling potential for future growth.

Porsche hasn’t offered a diesel vehicle globally since February, and it hasn’t sold any in the U.S. since the dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015. Three years ago, Volkswagen Group admitted to using cheat devices on millions of vehicles worldwide, including Cayenne diesels, in an effort to evade emissions control tests.

But no mention of that in this week’s press release. “Porsche is not demonizing diesel,” CEO Oliver Blume said in the statement. “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.” He added that Porsche will continue to take care of its existing diesel customers.

Porsche is ramping up its hybrid offensive next year with the Taycan, formerly known as the Mission E. Not long after that, expect a Cross Turismo variant. By 2025, every second new Porsche vehicle could be electrified. And while diesels are going away, Porsche says it’s still committed to the internal combustion engine.

Source: Porsche

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