Porsche Does Away With Diesel

The German automaker decides it’s ‘going green.’

Porsche announced on the 24^th 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.