Diesel-powered vehicles are out of the Porsche family for good, chief executive Oliver Blume has told the German daily Bild am Sonntag.
Although the company does not currently produce diesel vehicles, 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.
"There will be no more diesel from Porsche from now on," Blume told the newspaper. Instead, the company will focus on what it does best.
"That's emotionally gripping, strong-performing, gas-powered [cars] and hybrids," he said. "And, starting in 2019, that will also mean purely electric vehicles."
Even though Porsche never produced its own diesel-powered engines, "the image of Porsche suffered nonetheless. The diesel crisis caused us a lot of problems".
Another reason for the no-diesel vow, he said, is that the company wants to return to its sporty roots.
"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."
