VW brand will phase out combustion engines, CEO says

Volkswagen brand has no plans to develop new combustion engines, CEO Ralf Brandstaetter said, as the automaker shifts its focus to battery-powered cars.

"At the moment, I don't expect a completely new engine family to be launched again," Brandstaetter told Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive News Europe.

VW will further develop the engines currently in use and prepare them for new emissions standards such as Euro 7. "We still need them for a certain time, and they have to be as efficient as possible," he said.

VW will need the money it earns from selling vehicles with combustion engines to finance its electric push, Brandstaetter said.

Under its 'Accelerate' strategy, announced on March 5, the brand expects full-electric vehicles to account for more than 70 percent of its European vehicle sales by 2030, compared with a previous target of 35 percent. In the U.S. and China, the brand is targeting a market share of more than 50 percent for full-electric vehicles by 2030.

Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said earlier this month that the brand will not develop new combustion engines but will adapt existing internal combustion engines to new emissions guidelines, including for the upcoming new generations of its best-selling cars, the A4 and A6 sedans, and Q5 SUV.

"The next generation of these three model series will definitely still have internal combustion engines, including many plug-in and mild hybrids," Duesmann told Automobilwoche.

Duesmann gave no timeline for when the automaker will stop producing combustion engines. "Our customers will probably decide when the last combustion engine comes off the production line," he said.

Previously, the Volkswagen Group planned to introduce its last combustion engine platform in 2026, with a lifecycle that would end in 2040. It's not clear whether that timing will be changed.

VW and Audi are Volkswagen Group's most important engine manufacturers, supplying sister brands Skoda and Seat.