Volkswagen's Porsche to stop offering diesel models

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen’s Porsche will stop offering diesel versions of its cars, the unit’s chief executive told a weekly newspaper, responding to ever tougher requirements to curb CO2 emissions. “There won’t be any more diesel cars from Porsche in the future,” Oliver Blume told Bild am Sonntag in an interview. “We have never developed and produced diesel engines ourselves. Still, Porsche’s image has suffered. The diesel crisis has caused us a lot of trouble.” Porsche has sold diesel versions of its cars for nearly a decade, Bild am Sonntag said. Volkswagen has admitted to deliberately cheating diesel emissions tests, sending shockwaves through the automotive industries and causing a sector-wide crackdown on polluting diesel engines. Blume said that going forward, Porsche wanted to focus on products it was good at: “It’s emotional, powerful petrol cars and hybrids and from 2019 this will also include all-electric vehicles.” Current owners of Porsche models with diesel engines would continue to be serviced, Blume was quoted as saying by the paper.