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Porsche is spending a billion euros ($1.16 billion) to overhaul
its main Stuttgart plant and build the brand's first
battery-only model, the four-door Mission E saloon which is due
on the market in 2019.
It is the first German carmaker to say in public that it could
discontinue diesel.
"Of course we are looking into this issue," CEO Blume said in an
interview at the Nuerburgring motorsports complex in western
Germany. "We have not made a decision on it."
Whether diesel has a future at Porsche will be decided by the
end of the decade, as part of an overall engine strategy, Blume
said, adding that the brand will offer a mix of combustion
engines, plug-in hybrid vehicles and purely battery-powered cars
over the next 10 to 15 years.
German prosecutors last month started probing Porsche staff for
their role in designing illicit engine-control software while
regulators examined whether the Porsche Cayenne SUV was fitted
with such a device.
Porsche and Audi, together accounting for 60 percent of VW group
profit, are targeting "significant savings" in development and
material costs for their electric-car programs by sharing a new
platform code named PPE, Blume said.
The new architecture will allow both brands to save money by
sharing components and modules, helping Porsche with a goal to
keep its return on sales at around 15 percent a year, said Blume,
adding that further shared platforms are conceivable.
(Editing by Georgina Prodhan)
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