Porsche Drops Diesel Engines For Good

Porsche has decided to drop diesel variants from its entire portfolio, a move which is hardly surprising considering the amount of heat diesel powertrains have been facing in recent years. In Europe, Porsche halted production of the Panamera and the Macan S Diesel this year and there aren’t any plans for future diesel-powered cars from the Stuttgart-based manufacturer as well. While the company says the move is aimed at laying down more focus on hybrids and all-electric cars, the real cause could be a little deeper than that.

Some of you may already know that Porsche sources its 3.0-litre diesel motor from Audi, and we are sure you are aware of the Dieselgate scam they are involved in. According to various reports, the German transport ministry had been thinking of withdrawing its approval certificate for the Macan Diesel because of the software used in it. If this was to happen, Porsche would have been forced to buy back every single one of the diesel Macan and Panamera sold in Europe. And though Porsche has tried to deal with this issue with a simple software update, the agency does not seem to be budging. This is not exclusive to just Audi or Porsche, even Mercedes-Benz is now under the scanner for the kind of software they use in their diesel-powered cars.

All in all, with the company wanting to shift to hybrids and electrics, and put this whole emissions issue to rest, the diesel engine was expected to be canned anyway.

What's next? Well, we can expect more hybrids the Porsche stable in the coming years. The company has already introduced the Panamera E-Hybrid in other markets, and the Cayenne is expected to follow suit. Then there is the production version of the all-electric Mission E concept, which is set to break cover next year and be offered with two power outputs - 402PS and a 670PS.. With so much going on, will anyone even miss a diesel-powered Porsche? Well, just have to wait and see, won’t we?