Porsche has become the first German automobile brand to abandon diesel fuels. In a press release, the company indicated that it wanted to focus more of its efforts on hybrid and electric cars. Oliver Blume, Porsche’s CEO, said that diesel remained an important technology, but said that it was largely secondary in the realm of sports cars, and noted that demand for diesel vehicles had been falling for some time. “Porsche is not demonizing diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology,” Blume 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. Naturally we will continue to look after our existing diesel customers with the professionalism they expect.” While Porsche might not have anything against diesel cars, it is clear that sales figures have been falling for some time. A report from Automotive News Europe notes that diesel sales have fallen in recent years. In Porsche’s home country of Germany, diesel sales fell to a decade-low of 38 percent. Traditional gasoline-powered cars make up about 58 percent of the market. Alternative options, such as hybrids or electric cars, are doubling or tripling in volume, but remain at a smaller share than the other options. It’s worth noting that many of diesel’s woes may come down to politics. The EU has imposed stricter environmental regulations regarding diesel vehicles. Auto manufacturers have pushed back against these rules arguing that they are too broad. Car manufacturers concede that older diesel vehicles do have problems, but argue that they can be improved, whereas newer diesel vehicles are more environmentally friendly. However, a study which was recently released by The International Council on Clean Transportation has demonstrated that diesel cars fail to meet the EU’s emission standards. Their study found that the even the most efficient diesel cars were “more than twice the type-approval limits.” Less efficient models were as much as 18 times the approved limit. Regardless of the reasoning, Porsche’s decision to end diesel cars may prompt other companies to do the same. On the other hand, a hole in the market could provide an opening for competitors, so diesel fans will likely have some options for the time being. Editors' Recommendations<doc-sep>Porsche says that it’s getting out of the diesel business — for good. In a release this morning, it explains that amidst falling demand for diesel vehicles, and a growing interest in hybrids, it “has decided to no longer offer diesel propulsion in future.” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume notes that his company isn’t “demonising diesel” with the announcement, and says that the fuel still important worldwide, even though it’s never been a huge part of the company’s offerings. There’s been indications of this attitude in recent months: the German automaker has been increasingly interested in electric and hybrid vehicles. Last year, the company unveiled the 2019 Cayenne SUV , which was notably missing a diesel version, and later unveiled an updated hybrid model. Porsche has been increasingly interested in electric and hybrid vehicles Earlier this year, it announced that by 2022, it would double investment in greener vehicles, and that by 2025, “every second new Porsche vehicle could have an electric drive – either hybrid or purely electric.” Porsche will release its electric sports car, the Taycan (formerly known as Mission E) next year, which will take on other electric sports cars like Tesla’s Model S. Porsche’s desire to put diesel behind it makes sense: the automotive industry is increasingly betting on a future in which we drive electric and hybrid vehicles, and the company was embroiled in Volkswagen’s 2015 diesel emissions scandal. The company also hasn’t sold diesel vehicles in the US marketplace since 2015, and last year, it recalled 22,000 of its Cayenne SUVs after they were found to be equipped with devices that allowed them to get around emissions tests. Following that recall, Porsche opted to halt production altogether on its diesel engines, rather than update them to adhere to existing regulations. At the time, it seemed that it was simply pausing production, but today’s announcement reveals that it’s settled on the route that it will take — one without diesel.<doc-sep>FRANKFURT — Porsche will stop offering diesel versions of its cars, the Volkswagen unit said on Sunday, sharpening its focus on hybrid and battery-powered vehicles instead. Volkswagen has admitted to deliberately cheating diesel emissions tests, sending shockwaves through the automotive industries and causing a sector-wide crackdown on polluting diesel engines. Meanwhile, carmakers around the world have ramped up spending on the development of electric cars, hoping to catch up with pioneer Tesla. "Porsche is not demonizing diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology," Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume said in a statement. "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's existing diesel customers would continue to be served, he said. Porsche, which is investing more than 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in electric mobility by 2022, said that demand for diesel models was dropping, adding their share of worldwide Porsche cars was 12 percent in 2017. "We have never developed and produced diesel engines ourselves. Still, Porsche's image has suffered. The diesel crisis has caused us a lot of trouble," Blume said in a separate interview with weekly Bild am Sonntag. German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting on Sunday to discuss whether to require the car industry to carry out costly hardware upgrades for older diesel vehicles to reduce inner-city pollution, government sources said. Porsche has sold diesel versions of its cars for nearly a decade. It has not had a diesel in its lineup since February. Next year, it will launch the Taycan, its first fully-electric sports car. According to Bild am Sonntag, Porsche is suspected of manipulating engines to improve their sound on the road at the expense of higher emissions, adding this function was not active in a testing environment. Asked about this, Blume said: "In the individual case of the eight-cylinder Cayenne EU5, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has declared an engine charge control as not being in line with the law. This was about nitrogen oxide, not CO2." Blume said that Porsche was owning up to the issue, adding it affected about 13,500 diesel vehicles and that the carmaker was also examining petrol cars as a precautionary measure. Related Video:<doc-sep>
Porsche will no longer make diesel-powered vehicles, opting instead to invest more money into electric and hybrid technology, the company said over the weekend. Porsche has never been as committed to diesel as other automakers under its parent company VW Group. Porsche has offered some diesel versions of its models, including the Porsche Cayenne. But waning demand combined with the fallout from the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal has accelerated Porsche’s move away from diesel. Now it’s ditching diesel for good. Porsche hasn’t had any diesel models in its portfolio since February 2018. And the proportion of Porsche diesel models globally was just 12 percent in 2017. Meanwhile, interest in hybrid models has grown, Lutz Meschke, deputy chairman and board member wrote in a post on LinkedIn. About 63 percent of Panamera vehicles are ordered as hybrid models, Meschke added. “Porsche has no intention of demonizing the diesel engine — it is, and will remain, an important drive technology,” Meschke said in his LinkedIn post. “As a sports car manufacturer for which diesel engines have traditionally played a subordinate role, we have come to the conclusion that we can survive without diesel models in the future.” Porsche says it will provide service to existing diesel customers. The shift away from diesel comes as Porsche ramps up its investment in all-electric and hybrid electric models. Porsche plans to invest more than €6 billion ($7 billion) into electrification, which includes hybrids, by 2022. Half of all new vehicles from Porsche may feature an electric drive — either as part of a hybrid concept or as a purely electric vehicle — by 2025. More than $580 million of that capital will be allocated to the production of the Taycan and other vehicles based on it. The Porsche Taycan, the all-electric sports car formerly known as Mission E, is expected to come on the market in 2019.