After being an integral brand in the drive towards making modern cars safer, Volvo now look to be on the forefront of emissions and fuel-saving technology moving forward.
The Swedish marque (well, now with Chinese production and ownership) have now confirmed that their S60 sedan won't come with a diesel option.
That's big news from Volvo, given that it makes the S60 the first model they've ever made to not come with some form of diesel variant.
“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo president and chief executive.
“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.”
The slow eradication of diesel from its line-up shouldn't be a surprise, given how forward-leaning Volvo has been in recent times to new technologies.
Last year they confirmed that all of their models would have an electric variant by 2019 — a move praised by the United Nations, among others. Those aims are backed by the target of fully electric cars to make up half of their global sales by 2025.
With a diesel now gone from the line-up, the S60 will instead be offered with several four-cylinder Drive-E petrol engines, plus two petrol plug-in hybrid alternatives — with more to come in 2019.