VW to Abandon Diesel Push in U.S.

Volkswagen AG says its continuing diesel emissions scandal has prompted it to back away from its traditional emphasis on diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S.

About 20% of VW sales in the U.S. have been diesels in recent years—a far larger proportion than any other carmaker in the American market. The company says it will continue to offer diesels in select models at least through 2019.

But Hinrich Woebcken, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, tells Automotive News the company doesn’t expect diesels to ever recapture their former share of the brand’s sales volume. He adds that VW will drop "clean diesels" as a centerpiece in its U.S. marketing plan.

VW hasn’t been allowed to sell any diesels in the U.S. since last September. That was when the Environmental Protection Agency revealed the company had doctored about 555,000 diesels in the U.S. to elude the country’s stringent emission limits for nitrogen oxides. Sales will resume when technical upgrades to the company’s 4-cylinder and V-6 diesels are approved by regulators.

Woebcken hints that VW could phase out diesels almost entirely in the U.S. after 2019, when the country’s NOx standards tighten again. The company will debut an array of electric vehicles in 2020 and is likely to expand its hybrid lineup too.