(dpa) – Three years after it emerged that Volkswagen and other German car brands were cheating in diesel emissions tests, Porsche says it won’t be building any more cars that run on this dirty fuel.
“There will be no more diesel from Porsche from now on,” chief executive Oliver Blume said, announcing his intentions to return the company to its sporty roots.
Porsche doesn’t currently produce diesel vehicles, but Blume said he wants to be clear that they are also not on the horizon.
Even without its own diesel vehicles, Porsche’s reputation has suffered as the German automobile industry has taken hits since 2015, after it came to light that Volkswagen had been using special software during testing to hide how polluting its cars emissions were. Other German brands have since suffered similar accusations.
The company now wants to focus on “emotionally gripping, strong-performing, gas-powered [cars] and hybrids,” he said. “And, starting in 2019, that will also mean purely electric vehicles.”
“It’s important to us that motors can be run in a sporting fashion,” he said. “In the future, Porsche will be more Porsche than it was in its past. We’ll focus on performance and efficiency.”
But he said the company will continue to provide service to Porsche diesels already on the roads.
The diesel scandal has not only left a stain on German car-making, but has also prompted some German cities to ban the use of diesel cars on their streets. The German government is looking at the idea of requiring older diesel vehicles to be retrofitted to fight pollution.