The German automaker decides it’s ‘going green.’
Porsche announced on the 24th of this month that
it will no longer produce cars with diesel engines. Instead, the luxury auto
brand owned by Volkswagen, will be focusing on expanding its offering of
electric and hybrid vehicles.
This is the latest blow to the diesel engine in Germany following
the Dieselgate scandal from three years ago, in which VW was caught cheating on
air pollution emissions tests in their diesel vehicles by using ‘defeat
devices.’ Diesel-powered car sales have plummeted since, and diesel owners fear
a collapsed resale value.
It has been a rapid fall from grace for a fuel once thought
of as the climate-friendly alternative to petrol, or unleaded gas, because it
produces less carbon emissions. The problem, which has become increasingly
clear over the last ten or so years, is that that are worse than petrol when it
comes to air pollution. The cheating, it is alleged, was done in order to make
diesel cars seem like they were emitting the same pollution as petrol-fueled
vehicles.
Porsche, in its statement today, said it does not want to “demonize”
diesel engines and that it would continue to care for its diesel cars already
on the road and in the market.
“It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology,”
said Porsche CEO Oliver Blume. “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.”
The share of diesel-powered cars in the Porsche fleet
currently stands at 12% worldwide. The company has not had a diesel vehicle in
its portfolio since February of this year, but it waited until this month to
end the manufacturing of diesel vehicles an official policy.
The company said it will now focus its efforts and money
formerly spent on diesel on electric vehicles. Porsche is set to introduce its
first fully-electric car next year, called the Taycan. By 2022, Porsche plans
to have invested more than 6 billion euros in electrifying its vehicles. With the
new focus, the German-based company said half of its products could be e-cars
by 2025.
“Our aim is to occupy the technical vanguard – we are
intensifying our focus on the core of our brand while consistently aligning our
company with the mobility of the future,” said Blume.
The company also said that like other automakers, it has
seen demand for diesel models dropping. On the other hand, interest in hybrid
models is increasing. 63% of the Panameras sold in Europe right now are hybrid
models.
Although Porsche is a small player in the German auto
manufacturing sector, other carmakers will be closely watching this move as
they wonder whether they, too, should ditch diesel.
