Volvo ditches diesel for all-new S60
Swedish car-maker says it will only offer a petrol and plug-in hybrid on all-new BMW 3 Series rivalVolvo has announced that it will not offer a diesel on its forthcoming S60 sedan, amid dwindling sales for the oiler globally.
Diesel-powered cars might dominate the mid-size premium sedan segment in Europe, but Volvo has told motoring.com.au that diesel variants account for less than 15 per cent of all S60 sedan sales globally.
As such, the Swedish car-maker says it will rely on a range of four-cylinder petrol engines and two plug-in hybrids in the next-generation model.
Next year, Volvo says it will also launch its next-gen 48-volt mild hybrid powertrain that will make its debut on the S60.
The move to electrified powertrains follows an announcement from the Scandinavian brand back in 2017 that, by 2019, all of its models would be either hybrids or pure-electric.
Recently, Volvo went even further by declaring that by 2025 half of all the vehicles it sells will be pure-electric.
Ditching diesel prematurely is considered a brave move by industry commentators. Europe is responsible for around 80 per cent of Volvo's sales and, despite a decline in sales in the wake of Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' saga, last year the fuel accounted for 43.8 per cent of the 6.77 million cars sold.
Along with the emissions scandal, tough new legislation proposed by governments all over Europe to tackle air quality is set to hit sales further.
Even so, in the premium segments that Volvo operates in, diesel still dominates sales.
In 2016, 65 per cent of the 61,941 S60s sold in Europe came with a diesel engine, although that figure fell to around half in 2017.
According to Volvo Australia, less than 15 per cent of current global S60 sales comprise diesel variants.
Volvo's decision to drop diesel from the S60 line-up follows similar thinking from both Nissan and fellow Japanese brand, Toyota, who have both announced plans to begin phasing out diesel powertrains.
Commenting following the announcement Volvo boss, Hakan Samuelsson, said: "Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines", with the car maker's CEO adding: "We will phase out cars with only an internal combustion engine, with gasoline-hybrid versions as a transitional option as we move toward full electrification".
Despite being committed to an electrified future, Volvo has yet to launch a full pure-electric vehicle.
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