Tuesday 20th February 2018

Porsche confirms the death of diesel

Production of diesel Panameras and Macans has ended, and that's that for diesel Porsches

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Remember when the diesel Cayenne was launched, back in 2009? Only just over the shock of a Porsche SUV, purists now had to face the prospect of said sports utility vehicle being powered by the devil's fuel. Buyers loved it, of course, as diesel was far more desirable back then, and the diesel variants became a mainstay of the Cayenne range.

But now the Cayenne diesel is no more, in fact Porsche diesel is no more. Some may say the writing was on the wall when the new Cayenne was launched with only petrol engines, and today it has been confirmed with production of both Macan and Panamera diesels ceasing, too.

Officially this is the result of a "cultural shift" in Porsche customers, with their focus now on petrol and hybrid alternatives. As a result the Panamera 4S Diesel and Macan SDiesel have been "taken out of the production programme", which means just nine years of Porsche diesel models. You never know, they might become collectors' items at some point...

In addition to the apparent lack of customer confidence in diesel at the moment, Autocar's comment from Porsche also cites a "software update" for the halting of production. It's been suggested that this is related to the new WLTP emissions test, which has also seen the F80 M3 bow out early. Combine the need to reengineer the product for new legislation with reduced demand from customers and the decision to remove diesel Porsche makes more sense.

Despite less than a decade on sale, the removal of Porsche diesels does look like a significant move given their previous popularity in the UK. Of those for sale on PH at the moment, nearly half of the Panameras are diesel; for the Macan and Cayenne it's significantly higher, at 62 per cent and 70 per cent respectively. So is now the time to pounce on a diesel Porsche? Or stay well away? Over to you...

Browse used Porsche's for sale on PistonHeads Classifieds

[WCZ]

diesel porsches never made much sense anyway really other than for company cars but now that hybrid porsches exist with a great BIK, they make no sense at all