Volvo Kills the Diesel Engine Perpetually
This XC90 is the final Volvo ever constructed with a diesel engine.
Volvo resides as much as the promise it made final yr when it introduced to finish manufacturing of autos powered by diesel engines in early 2024. This XC90 assembled on the firm’s Torslanda manufacturing unit is the ultimate oil-burner produced by the Swedish automaker, ending an period that began 45 years in the past. The blue SUV will not be heading to a buyer since it will go right into a museum for posterity.
The Geely-owned marque did not begin to maintain monitor of diesel automotive manufacturing till 1991, and since then, it has constructed greater than 9 million autos. Because the information do not present what number of autos have been constructed from 1979 till 1991, the full quantity is far larger contemplating 12 years are lacking. The final of the diesel breed is heading to the World of Volvo museum in Gothenburg.
The diesel story began with the 244 GL D6, however it did not have a Volvo engine. As a substitute, it was powered by a naturally aspirated six-cylinder unit borrowed from Volkswagen and Audi. It wasn’t till 2001 that Volvo launched a diesel engine of its personal, a five-cylinder mill assembled in-house on the manufacturing unit in Skövde.
In 2017, Volvo introduced plans to finish improvement of diesel engines. Final month, the ultimate automobile with a diesel engine (a V60) was inbuilt Ghent, Belgium. Now, the diesel engine is totally gone from the lineup.
The subsequent step is to finish the manufacturing of autos powered by combustion engines altogether. Though different luxurious manufacturers akin to Mercedes and Bentley have pushed again their overly bold EV targets, Volvo is sticking by its plan to go utterly electrical by the tip of the last decade.
Europe is the final bastion of diesel automobiles, however demand has been shrinking within the aftermath of the Volkswagen Group’s messy emissions-cheating scandal. As well as, stricter emissions rules are forcing automakers to steadily drop diesel engines. Investments to make diesels adjust to the EU’s harder laws can be costly, and since demand is dropping, it does not make sense to spend cash on these dying engines.
The European Car Producers’ Affiliation (ACEA) claims diesel’s market share in Europe dropped from 16.4 % in 2022 to 13.6 % in 2023. Totally electrical autos have been extra in style final yr by taking a 14.6 % share, whereas plug-in hybrids accounted for 7.7 %. Gasoline automobiles reigned supreme with 35.3 %. Common hybrids took a 25.8 % share whereas different kinds of propulsion accounted for the remaining 3 %.
