Volvo to ditch diesel car engines

Volvo is ramping up its efforts to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by deciding to not develop any new diesel car engines.

Chief executive Hakan Samuelsson told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview that it would keep developing current diesel-powered models introduced in 2013.

However, the costs of keeping them compliant with higher anti-pollution standards in the long term would no longer be worth it.

The current generation is likely to be produced until about 2023, he says.

Volvo will move towards electric and hybrid cars instead, with its first pure electric model due on the market in 2019.

“In this area, there should also be space for us, with high quality and attractive design,” Samuelsson says.

The average carbon dioxide emissions limit for European carmakers’ fleets will need to fall from 130 grammes per kilometre to 95 grammes in 2021, forcing them to invest more in exhaust emissions technology.