Photo: CarPix
It was only a few days ago we were in awe of Porsche's courage to say goodbye to diesel engines and focus its efforts on developing gasoline-powered engines and electric motors to use either separately or together in a hybrid powertrain.
Soon after, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles made a similar announcement, and it sounded as if we were witnessing the start of a trend. Except Porsche might act like that guy who starts a fight but is the first one to bail once punches begin to fly. And nobody likes that guy.
Last week, it was reported that Porsche would cease the production of diesel-powered models, citing a "cultural shift" among its customers. We'll ignore that "cultural shift" is actually called "growing a conscience" and focus on the news itself, which was quite big.
It didn't take much, however, to prove it was pretty bogus. The 2018 Porsche Cayenne may have been launched without a diesel option, but fret not, it's coming. And the larger SUV won't be alone: the smaller and even sportier Macan, due for a facelift, will keep its compression-ignition engine after the refresh as well.
Cited by Automotive News Europe, Porsche sales chief, Detlev von Platen made things very clear. No more reports, no more rumors, just facts from an accountable person from within the company: "We're not saying that we are exiting [diesel]."
The official thinks the highly-debated fuel type still has something to offer to the Porsche range. He argues the decision on the fact that there is nothing available right now that offers similar amounts of torque and range, though the (admittedly much more expensive) hybrid powertrains might have a thing or two to say about that.
"Presently, the planning process foresees one for the Cayenne and probably for the Macan, too," von Platen said. "For the SUV models, it [diesel] makes sense where customers want range and torque." However he was quick to downplay the importance of diesel for the brand, despite its popularity - especially in Europe.
"It was never extremely relevant. Only about 14 percent of the 246,000 cars we sell worldwide are a diesel," he said. "We see big demand for our plug-in hybrids, especially with the latest generation, now that its electric range was extended to 50 kilometers. That plays a big role." We'd be quite curios to know how much of those sales the very relevant hybrids account for.
It looks like Porsche isn't as gutsy as we might have thought, and is more adept at gently removing the band-aid instead of just ripping it off. But even though the information turned out to be false, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? So no harm done.
Last week, it was reported that Porsche would cease the production of diesel-powered models, citing a "cultural shift" among its customers. We'll ignore that "cultural shift" is actually called "growing a conscience" and focus on the news itself, which was quite big.
It didn't take much, however, to prove it was pretty bogus. The 2018 Porsche Cayenne may have been launched without a diesel option, but fret not, it's coming. And the larger SUV won't be alone: the smaller and even sportier Macan, due for a facelift, will keep its compression-ignition engine after the refresh as well.
Cited by Automotive News Europe, Porsche sales chief, Detlev von Platen made things very clear. No more reports, no more rumors, just facts from an accountable person from within the company: "We're not saying that we are exiting [diesel]."
The official thinks the highly-debated fuel type still has something to offer to the Porsche range. He argues the decision on the fact that there is nothing available right now that offers similar amounts of torque and range, though the (admittedly much more expensive) hybrid powertrains might have a thing or two to say about that.
"Presently, the planning process foresees one for the Cayenne and probably for the Macan, too," von Platen said. "For the SUV models, it [diesel] makes sense where customers want range and torque." However he was quick to downplay the importance of diesel for the brand, despite its popularity - especially in Europe.
"It was never extremely relevant. Only about 14 percent of the 246,000 cars we sell worldwide are a diesel," he said. "We see big demand for our plug-in hybrids, especially with the latest generation, now that its electric range was extended to 50 kilometers. That plays a big role." We'd be quite curios to know how much of those sales the very relevant hybrids account for.
It looks like Porsche isn't as gutsy as we might have thought, and is more adept at gently removing the band-aid instead of just ripping it off. But even though the information turned out to be false, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? So no harm done.
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