No New Diesel Engines In The Pipeline, Says Volvo CEO

Instead, the Swedish carmaker will invest in hybrid and electric powertrains

In what is a rather unsurprising move by one of the most health-and-safety-centric carmaker, Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson has said that the company will no longer invest in developing new diesel engines. The reason for this is rather simple. In markets with strict emission norms like the US and Europe, the cost of reducing nitrogen oxide emissions will eventually push diesel car prices by a huge market making them unattractive. 

"We have to recognise that Tesla has managed to offer such a car for which people are lining up. In this area, there should also be space for us, with high quality and attractive design," Samuelsson said. In one of his previous statements, he said that tighter emissions regulations will eventually inflate the price of diesel cars to the point where they will be at par with plug-in hybrid cars and the latter would then become an attractive alternative.

He further added that the company will keep developing the current-gen diesel engines, which were introduced in 2013, to meet future emission standards. But the cost to keep them compliant with stricter pollution standards would not be worth it. Volvo is likely to continue producing the current list of diesel engines until about 2023.

The money, machine and manpower saved will be invested in developing electric and hybrid powertrains instead. The company is gearing up to launch its first ever, all-electric vehicle sometime in 2019.

This move sums up to be a logical one. Even the current generation of Volvo diesel engines are turbocharged to make the most of the waste gases and reduce the resulting emissions from the vehicle. The Swedish carmaker doesn’t even make a diesel engine which has a cubic capacity more than 2,000.