The Swedish manufacturer is about to take another important step on the way to 100% electric mobility. Volvo announced this Production of cars with diesel engines will end in early 2024 and thus brought an era to an end. It is worth noting that Volvo is one of the first automotive companies in the traditional segment to make such a move, and it is an achievement that the company does not hesitate to boast about.
“Within a few months, the last Volvo car with a diesel engine will be produced, making Volvo Cars one of the first traditional car manufacturers to take this step,” the company confirmed in a statement.
A few years ago it was hard to imagine that Volvo would say goodbye to diesel-powered vehicles. In fact, in 2019, a large part of sales continued to depend on this type of engine. However, with the promotion of their electric cars, more and more people switched to combustion engines. In 2022, only 8.9% of Volvo’s sales in Europe came from diesel variants.
Having managed to reduce the percentage, Volvo did not hesitate to set a date for stopping the production of cars with diesel engines. To support their decision, they announced this 33% of August sales were 100% electric or hybrid models.
But regardless of what’s happening in your finances, Volvo wants to become a fully electric car manufacturer by 2030. Of course, to meet these demands they will have to step back into a market that was once an important economic support.
After Volvo ditched diesel in the first few months of 2024, the next big step will be to do the same with the gasoline engine. Of course, it is not expected that this will be the case soon, as these models continue to sell very well, especially outside of Europe.
In some ways, Volvo’s departure from the diesel engine isn’t all that surprising. Not only because it was a logical step in their strategy, but because they had already announced the move several years ago.
In 2018, Hakan Samuelsson, the automaker’s former CEO, said it was fully focused on electric mobility. For this reason they would not develop new diesel engines.
“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines. We will phase out combustion engine-only cars and use hybrid petrol versions as a transition option as we move towards full electrification.”
His vision has obviously been carried over to the current administration led by Jim Rowan. In addition, we must not forget that the Chinese company Geely Holding Group It is the majority shareholder of Volvo – among other manufacturers. The company is committed to transforming its subsidiary into a pure-play electric car manufacturer. So the efforts of both go in the same direction.
