Volvo and diesel are continuing their ‘conscious uncoupling’, with the new fleet-focused S60 saloon the latest car from the Swedish brand to ditch diesel. Indeed, it’s the first Volvo in decades to be produced without a single diesel engine in its line-up.
“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines,” explained Hakan Samuelsson, president and chief exec of Volvo Cars.
“We will phase out cars with only an internal combustion engine, with petrol hybrid versions as a transitional option as we move towards full electrification.
“The new S60 represents the next step in that commitment.”
To be launched imminently, the new S60 will thus offer only Drive-E petrol or a plug-in petrol, with mild hybrid versions following, and battery electric versions possibly coming later. It’s part of what Volvo describes as the most comprehensive electrification strategy in the car industry.
What’s the roadmap? By 2025, Volvo is aiming for full EVs to make up half its global sales. By next year, all new models launched will be diesel-free, and it will disappear entirely from the line-up by the early 2020s.
Volvo’s had a helping hand in making the S60 its first modern car to be built without a diesel engine, though. It’s to be produced solely in Charleston, South Carolina, at its brand new North American manufacturing facility.
This means every new S60 in the world will be built in the USA – a market that, thanks to the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal, is now one of the most anti-diesel nations in the world…
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