Volvo to Phase Out Diesel Car Production by 2024 in Drive towards Electrification

Volvo Cars, the renowned Swedish carmaker, announced on Tuesday that it is set to cease production of all remaining diesel car models by early 2024. The decision comes as part of Volvo's strategic drive towards total electrification, further cementing its position as a vanguard in the transformation of the automotive industry.

The announcement marks Volvo as one of the first of the established automakers globally to phase out diesel car production entirely. "In a few months from now, the last diesel-powered Volvo car will have been built," the company said, a move that heralds the changing face of the automobile sector towards cleaner modes of transport.

Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China's Geely, is on track to becoming a fully electric car company by 2030. As recently as 2019, a majority of the cars Volvo sold in Europe were diesel vehicles. However, the tides have turned significantly in 2022, with diesel vehicles making up only 8.9% of Volvo's sales.

In August, fully electric or hybrid models represented a substantial 33% of Volvo’s sales. The company did not specify the proportion of the remaining 67% combustion-engine models between diesel and petrol.

Diesel-car sales figures have been tumbling in Europe after Volkswagen's emission-cheating scandal sparked a crisis of confidence in such models. In the face of this trend, automobile manufacturers have been gradually diminishing diesel models from their line-ups. Diesel vehicles dominated more than half of Europe's new car sales in 2015, but as of July, they accounted for just above 14% of sales.