Porsche Sweeps Through Lineup And Kills ALL Diesels Citing Cultural Shifts

I would guess that most of the buyers of New Porsche vehicles are not from the Lower or middle class. THey(the lower and middle class) are the ones that use diesels to save significant money in Europe over Gas Engines - and take advantage of the low tax on Diesel fuel. Since Diesel was never a significant percentage of Porsche sales - dropping them is an easy decision - I would bet Lamborghini and Ferrari have even higher class buyers than Porsche - and few diesel offerings.

Compared to the US, diesels were much more popular in Canada, and that includes Audi's 1st Gen Q5 (the most popular mid-size luxury SUV at the time) and Porsche's diesel Cayenne. In Canada, diesel pump prices are typically at or a little below regular unleaded prices (except in winter), so diesel engines offered the double benefit of better fuel economy, and lower fuel prices (compared to premium unleaded). So the consumer demand was definitely there!

But let's get back to Porsche's claim of "cultural shifts." Diesel's "popularity" declined in the US when the Dieselgate scandal hit. It was never a huge success in that market, to begin with, but demand fell still further with cries of "dirty diesel." Diesel's popularity declined less so in other markets, namely Europe, Africa, and others.

What changed in a BIG way, was that diesels from the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG: VW, Audi, Porsche, Bentley) could no longer pass emissions tests, as government agencies scrutinized them more closely. This was a direct result of the Dieselgate scandal. So VAG could no longer sell diesels legally in the North America. This even applies to the luxury Bentley division, who offers a diesel Bentayga SUV, but not in the North American market.

Other diesel manufacturers -- namely Mercedes and BMW -- also got nabbed and could not pass emissions test, thereby making them "not legal for sale" in North America. That's why you can't buy a new diesel MB or BMW now.

So, while Porsche cites "cultural shifts", the more truthful and accurate answer, though much less flattering, is this: Our diesel offerings don't pass emissions tests in key markets; therefore, we can't sell our diesel products there; therefore, we have zero diesel sales there.

"Cultural Shift" = Can't legally sell our emissions-non-compliant diesels to you.

That's different from the way Porsche (and VAG) spin it.

Steve, I agree with most of this, but you can still buy a 2018 BMW brand new at a dealer. There's 42 328 and X5 diesels within 50 miles of my home. But MB has none.

atc98092: You are correct. My mistake. BMW still offers diesel variants. I double-checked Mercedes' website, who has none.

Very true @TheSteve. Lots of Canadians love their VW group diesel cars and SUV's. But it is truly just spin. I wonder now if diesel products ever passed emissions tests honestly in the past.

Audi would then be next.

Porsche should never have had diesels in the first place.

Thank you Porsche! Next, get rid of all fossils! :)

Yes because EVs being charged by unclean energy and their batteries leaching toxic poisons into the environment is soooooo preferable.

The electric ninnies haven't gotten around to getting new power plants built. Nah, let's just dramatically increase the draw on the grid. It's all unicorn, magic-utopia free.