Porsche DROPS diesel for good – Porsche say it’s now OFFICIALLY official

After dropping diesel engine options in their range in February this year, Porsche has now officially confirmed that diesel engines will play no part in the future of Porsche.

Earlier this year, Porsche dropped diesel engines from its cars and we all thought that was the end of diesel engines in a Porsche. But Porsche back-tracked a bit.

Having announced that the only two cars in their line-up which actually had a diesel option at the time – the Macan and the Panamera – would no longer be offered with a diesel engine, Porsche subsequently said that the Cayenne diesel would be launched, presumably after WLTP tests were sorted and software issues were resolved. But that’s not happening.

Porsche has released a statement this morning (23 September 2018) confirming the end of diesel-engined Porsches. 

Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO, said:

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.

Which is no real surprise; the backlash against diesel is growing, and for Porsche it has made up an ever-decreasing proportion of their sales (just 12 per cent in 2017), so it’s not the same as a company like Jaguar Land Rover doing the same when up to 90 per cent of their cars are diesel powered.

With the Porsche Taycan EV on the way and Porsche buyers jumping in to Porsche hybrids – especially the Panamera hybrid – in big numbers, the end of diesel at Porsche is a no-brainer.