As if this week’s announcement about a big shift to electric vehicles wasn’t enough, VW is now saying that it might not bring its diesel line-up back to the US. The German automaker didn’t completely close the door, but after a year of negative headlines from its diesel cheat scandal, VW’s image just might go from Clean Diesel to Voltswagen.
Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan told Reuters this past week that there’s been no decision on whether or not VW will sell diesel vehicles in the US. She didn’t totally close the door on oil burners – she said that VW does “not expect diesel to return to the US with the same significance” – but we shouldn’t expect to see them for sale any time soon. Ginivan said diesel technology “will be pursued where it makes sense for the market,” but that the company is turning more towards EVs and hybrids to meet ever-stricter emissions regulations.
For now, VW and its related brands are forbidden to sell any diesel vehicles in the US and there have been stop-sale orders in place since last fall. Before the diesel cheat device was made public a year ago, about 25 percent of VW’s sales here were diesel models.