Porsche rules out diesel engines

Porsche has made it clear that it would not be fitting any diesel powertrains to its cars, a move that would have brought it closer to complying with future carbon-dioxide emissions standards. Just Auto is reporting the Stuttgart based sports carmaker has chosen to develop a hybrid drivetrain that is expected to appear in the next generation Cayenne SUV.

The EU is proposing that all carmakers in Europe must have an average CO2 emissions level of just 130g/km by 2012, up from the original 120g/km proposal. Porsche’s gas-electric hybrid Cayenne will cut fuel consumption by about 15% over the non-hybrid version. The technology will be co-developed with Volkswagen and Audi for use in future Touareg and Q7 models.

The hybrid Cayenne is expected to roll in by the end of the decade and should be faster than the standard V6 model because of the additional boost of the electric motor.