Porsche abandons diesel engines as emissions scandal wakes up

Porsche's decision underscores the growing trend of automakers to focus their resources on ramping up plug-in and full-battery hybrid electric vehicles over the next decade, rather than on the development of diesel in the face of the rising costs of developing new generation vehicles. combustion engines. stricter regulations on emissions.

The decision also comes as sales of diesel cars plummeted as part of a more aggressive response to the emissions scandal, as European cities begin to ban old diesel models from their reduction targets. shows.

In an interview with the German weekly Bild am Sonntag, who for the first time reported on Porsche's decision, managing director Oliver Blume acknowledged that Porsche's image had suffered as a result of the Volkswagen scandal.

"The diesel crisis has caused us a lot of problems," he said, adding that this is the reason why the automaker wants to focus on gasoline and hybrid vehicles, as well as on 100% electric vehicles.

The parent company Volkswagen has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the US government on the emission levels of its diesel cars. The company's cheat was revealed in September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted that some 11 million of its diesel vehicles in the world were equipped with software to bypass emissions tests.

Porsche was weighing the decision to drop diesel engines since the scandal began.

Diesel models at Porsche have been declining in recent years as demand for hybrid models is on the rise, Porsche said. In 2017, 12% of Porsche cars in the world were equipped with a diesel engine while in Europe, 63% of Porsche Panamera were already hybrid models. Porsche has not had a diesel model in its portfolio since February 2018, the company said.

Porsche will invest more than 6 billion euros ($ 7 billion) in hybrid and electric mobility technology until 2022. According to the company, every new Porsche car should be electrically powered by 2025 either hybrid or fully electric.

Some car manufacturers have taken even more radical measures. Last year Volvo declared that all models starting in 2019 would be either fully electric or hybrid, as the Chinese automaker became the first major automaker to announce that it would phase out the combustion engines that dominate the market. sector for decades.

Porsche, however, added that it was not "demonizing diesel". "It is and will remain an important propulsion technology," said Porsche, adding that it would continue to serve Porsche diesel model holders.

-William Boston contributed to this article.

Write to Ruth Bender at [email protected]