No new diesel engines for Volvo

Volvo has launched its last all-new diesel engine.

Speaking with Drive at the launch of the new XC60 SUV in Spain, Volvo drivetrain engineer Lutz Stiegler confirmed that the brand "will not develop a new diesel engine anymore" as it pushes toward a hybrid and electric future. Clarifying that the brand will produce updated versions of its current Drive-E 2.0-litre turbo diesel motor in coming years, Stiegler says the business case for an all-new engine architecture does not add up.

Those comments gel with those of Volvo chief executive Hakan Samuelsson, who told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that "from today's perspective, we will not develop any more new-generation diesel engines".

The brand will continue to offer diesel engines in production cars in the near future. But its research and development arm won't tip money into a dying technology that looks as though it will be banned from major urban centres within the forseeable future.

Volvo's next new engine family will be a group of 1.5-litre, three-cylinder petrol and hybrid engines based on the same four-cylinder Drive-E range launched in the current-generation XC90.

The XC90's engine is available as a plug-in hybrid with 300kW of petrol-electric power and a battery-only range of around 45 kilometres.

Volvo says it will build its first all-electric car in 2019.

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