Porsche May Ditch Diesel Engines - CEO
car&bike Team
1 min read
Jul 19, 2017, 12:22 AM
Key Highlights
- Porsche's Mission E saloon will be heading to the market in 2019
- Battery-only cars could account for a quarter of Porsche's sales by 2025
- Porsche introduced its first diesel car in 2009 with the Cayenne
Porsche will decide at the end of the decade whether its latest generation of diesel engines will be its last, Chief Executive Oliver Blume told Reuters, the first time a German carmaker has said in public it could discontinue diesel. Volkswagen's cheating on diesel emissions tests has cast a shadow over its Porsche division and the sports car brand, which first introduced diesel in its Cayenne sports utility vehicle (SUV) in 2009, is considering its options.
"Of course we are looking into this issue," CEO Blume said in an interview at the Nuerburgring motorsports complex in western Germany. "We have not made a decision on it." Blume said Porsche would offer a mix of combustion engines, plug-in hybrid vehicles and purely battery-powered cars over the next 10-15 years and would decide at the end of the decade whether diesel had a future at Porsche.
German prosecutors last month started investigating Porsche staff to see whether they were involved in designing illicit engine-control software and regulators are examining whether the Cayenne was fitted with such a device. A redesign of the Cayenne will be launched in September and it will still offer a diesel version, Blume said, just like the Panamera saloon that hit dealerships last November.
"For the generations that will follow there are different scenarios," Blume said. One scenario has Porsche backing out of diesel altogether, sources at the carmaker said.
Stuttgart-based Porsche still relies on diesels, which account for about 15 percent of its global sales, to help it bring down emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as they are more fuel-efficient than petrol engines. At luxury rival BMW, diesel cars make up 35 percent of new registrations while Audi's European diesel sales alone account for two-thirds of deliveries.
But diesel's image has been badly tarnished by the emissions scandal and revelations that some engines pump dangerously high levels of poisonous nitrogen oxides into the air, prompting many carmakers to review their strategies. To tap into growing demand for electric cars, Porsche is spending a billion euros ($1.2 billion) to overhaul its main Stuttgart plant and build its first battery-only model - the four-door Mission E saloon which is due on the market in 2019.
Battery-only vehicles could account for a quarter of Porsche's sales by 2025, give or take 5 to 10 percentage points, Blume said, contradicting a media report that said up to half of its output by 2023-24 could be electric. Earlier this month, Geely's Volvo said all its cars launched after 2019 would be electric or hybrids, making it the first major traditional carmaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles power solely by combustion engines.
Porsche and Audi, which together contribute 60 percent of VW's profits, are targeting "significant savings" in development and material costs for their electric-car programmes by sharing a new production platform code-named PPE, Blume said. The new architecture will allow both brands to save money by sharing components and modules, helping Porsche with a goal of keeping its return on sales at about 15 percent a year, he said.
"Further platforms are conceivable, for instance with SUVs." Porsche sales rose 6 percent to a record 238,000 cars in 2016 and Blume said the carmaker had a guideline for increasing its sales about 5 percent per year through 2025. Counting on growing demand for high-end electric cars, Porsche may spawn another zero-emission model off the Mission E platform, for which it plans an initial capacity of about 20,000 cars at its Zuffenhausen factory, Blume said. An electrified version of the top-selling Macan SUV is also possible.
"We expect the metropolises in China and Asia will switch to pure electric mobility very fast," the CEO said. "I believe there will be few pure combustion engines to be seen in the large cities there in five years time. The development in rural areas will, however, proceed much more slowly."
"Of course we are looking into this issue," CEO Blume said in an interview at the Nuerburgring motorsports complex in western Germany. "We have not made a decision on it." Blume said Porsche would offer a mix of combustion engines, plug-in hybrid vehicles and purely battery-powered cars over the next 10-15 years and would decide at the end of the decade whether diesel had a future at Porsche.
German prosecutors last month started investigating Porsche staff to see whether they were involved in designing illicit engine-control software and regulators are examining whether the Cayenne was fitted with such a device. A redesign of the Cayenne will be launched in September and it will still offer a diesel version, Blume said, just like the Panamera saloon that hit dealerships last November.
"For the generations that will follow there are different scenarios," Blume said. One scenario has Porsche backing out of diesel altogether, sources at the carmaker said.
Stuttgart-based Porsche still relies on diesels, which account for about 15 percent of its global sales, to help it bring down emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as they are more fuel-efficient than petrol engines. At luxury rival BMW, diesel cars make up 35 percent of new registrations while Audi's European diesel sales alone account for two-thirds of deliveries.
But diesel's image has been badly tarnished by the emissions scandal and revelations that some engines pump dangerously high levels of poisonous nitrogen oxides into the air, prompting many carmakers to review their strategies. To tap into growing demand for electric cars, Porsche is spending a billion euros ($1.2 billion) to overhaul its main Stuttgart plant and build its first battery-only model - the four-door Mission E saloon which is due on the market in 2019.
Battery-only vehicles could account for a quarter of Porsche's sales by 2025, give or take 5 to 10 percentage points, Blume said, contradicting a media report that said up to half of its output by 2023-24 could be electric. Earlier this month, Geely's Volvo said all its cars launched after 2019 would be electric or hybrids, making it the first major traditional carmaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles power solely by combustion engines.
Porsche and Audi, which together contribute 60 percent of VW's profits, are targeting "significant savings" in development and material costs for their electric-car programmes by sharing a new production platform code-named PPE, Blume said. The new architecture will allow both brands to save money by sharing components and modules, helping Porsche with a goal of keeping its return on sales at about 15 percent a year, he said.
"Further platforms are conceivable, for instance with SUVs." Porsche sales rose 6 percent to a record 238,000 cars in 2016 and Blume said the carmaker had a guideline for increasing its sales about 5 percent per year through 2025. Counting on growing demand for high-end electric cars, Porsche may spawn another zero-emission model off the Mission E platform, for which it plans an initial capacity of about 20,000 cars at its Zuffenhausen factory, Blume said. An electrified version of the top-selling Macan SUV is also possible.
"We expect the metropolises in China and Asia will switch to pure electric mobility very fast," the CEO said. "I believe there will be few pure combustion engines to be seen in the large cities there in five years time. The development in rural areas will, however, proceed much more slowly."
© Thomson Reuters 2017
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Related News
1 min read
10 Most Powerful Super SUVs In India
Popular Porsche Models
Latest Cars
Upcoming Cars
Latest News
Bilal Firfiray | Feb 16, 2026BMW X3 xDrive30 M Sport Pro Lanched In India At Rs 74.50 LakhThe new range-topping xDrive 30 done up in the M Sport Pro trim offers 255bhp and 400Nm. Can do 0-100kmph in just 6.3 seconds1 min read
Jaiveer Mehra | Feb 16, 2026Jeep Meridian Track Edition Launched In India; Prices Start At Rs 35.95 LakhSpecial edition of the Meridian is based on the fully-loaded Meridian Overland.1 min read
Girish Karkera | Feb 16, 2026MG's First Plug-In Hybrid For India Coming In 2026, Confirms MD Anurag MehrotraJSW MG is pivoting toward a hybrid and electric future, targeting a 30% market share for New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) by the end of the decade1 min read
car&bike Team | Feb 15, 2026Maruti Suzuki Brezza Facelift Spied With 6-Speed Manual GearboxLatest images of the test car’s interior suggest that it could become the first Maruti to get a 6-speed manual gearbox.1 min read
Jaiveer Mehra | Feb 15, 2026SIAM Reports PV Sales Of Almost 4.5 Lakh Units, 2W Sales Of Over 19 Lakh Units In January 2026SIAM reported that sales of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers were the best ever for the month of January.1 min read
car&bike Team | Feb 14, 2026Kawasaki Ninja, Versys Models Available With Discounts Of Up To Rs 2.50 LakhThe highest discount is being offered on the Ninja ZX-10R, followed by the Ninja 1100 SX and ZX-6R models.2 mins read
Jafar Rizvi | Feb 15, 2026Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Long-Term Review - Report 1The Victoris is Maruti’s latest offering for the Indian market, and after spending some time with it, here are a few early impressions.1 min read
Bilal Firfiray | Feb 12, 2026BMW X3 30 xDrive M Sport Review: The Driver’s SUV ReturnsRange-toppingX3 30 xDrive M Sport brings back the fun with 255bhp and genuine enthusiast appeal. Does this performance-focused SUV stand out?5 mins read
Bilal Firfiray | Feb 11, 2026Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe Review: The Goldilocks AMG?The Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe is a concoction of hooliganistic performance and everyday usability. Here’s why this Rs 1.5 crore two-door AMG might be the perfect modern sports coupe for India.6 mins read
Girish Karkera | Feb 11, 2026Toyota Ebella EV Review: Compact And Fun-To-Drive With The Promise Of Stress-Free AftersalesNo hiding the fact that it is a clone of the Maruti Suzuki eVitara, but the first all-electric Toyota in India is reasonably well-rounded8 mins read
Bilal Firfiray | Feb 10, 2026Tata Punch EV Long Term Review: Small EV With A Big-Hearted PersonalityWith the new Punch EV Facelift just around the corner, we decided to take a look at what it excels at and what could be improved.7 mins read