Porsche officially stops production of diesel models

There is one irrefutable logic that goes on when it comes to vehicle production: cars with low demand tend to be cleared off of a brand’s lineup. In contrast, those with higher demand will get the marque’s focus. That’s just the way businesses go, and we can’t really blame them.

The latest victim of this is diesel-powered Porsches. The Stuttgart-based company announced that it’s ending its production of diesel-powered vehicles. Why? Because there’s a tremendous decline in the demand for its diesel vehicles globally, while electrified Porsches are becoming the customers’ choice, particularly in Europe.

Related: Editor Speaks: Should we cease using Diesel?

Porsche released an official statement about this move on their website, and it also gave out important numbers to substantiate its rather drastic maneuver.

According to the brand, the share of diesel Porsches globally is down to 12% in 2017, while 63% of Panameras sold in Europe are hybrid models. The strong contrast between these numbers dictates an inevitable fate for the company. Who can blame them, anyway? It’s only natural to put your investments where the profit is.

With this trend, Porsche also announced that it will have invested six billion euros (around P380-billion) in e-mobility by 2022. What that means is, the brand will focus on electrifying its lineup in the years to come, which has already started with the introduction of the Taycan all-electric sports car and the upcoming Mission E Cross Turismo, its upcoming crossover EV (pictured above).

Porsche is not demonising diesel. 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. Naturally we will continue to look after our existing diesel customers with the professionalism they expect.

Oliver Blume
CEO of Porsche AG

What about its performance vehicles? Thankfully, Porsche assured sports car purists that it will continue developing and optimizing its internal combustion engine, albeit, gasoline-powered, which means “emotional and powerful sports cars will thus continue to play an important role in the Porsche product portfolio.”