Porsche to have diesel in 2009
The German sports car maker will take the diesel engine–most likely for its Cayenne premium SUV–directly from Volkswagen, thereby saving substantial development costs. Porsche controls 31 percent of VW shares and has an option to raise its shareholding further.
The AID newsletter, citing Porsche sources, said Porsche executives have overcome their long-time reservations about diesel engines.
Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking has said repeatedly that the company constantly evaluates the commercial feasibility of putting a diesel engine in one or more of its models. Last year, he told Automotive News Europe that because of the additional costs and relatively low sales volume of Porsche cars, he didn’t think such a move would make sense.
A Porsche spokesman said Friday that the issue remains under discussion internally. Porsche sources said no decision has been made. AutoWeek