PSA Peugeot-Citroën's Peugeot brand has confirmed that the French automaker will no longer develop diesel hybrid electric powertrains in future. The brand's CEO Maxime Picat told Autocar, "You have a really efficient diesel [engine] in terms of CO2 [carbon dioxide] plus the hybrid but where you are in countries where there is no diesel you have to redevelop." He added, "It is not efficient in terms of economy of scale and we know these new energies are costly to develop... We have to make sure we have the same technical solution for Europe, for China, for Norway, for all the countries."
Significance: PSA had in the past focused heavily on diesel hybrid technology, against the norms in the passenger car market. However, as it looks to sell alternative powertrain vehicles in a wider number of markets – and particularly where gasoline (petrol) is the more prevalent fuel choice - it is prudent for the company to change its tack on this front. Indeed, the automaker has already shown off a number of gasoline hybrid vehicles in recent times, including DS Wild Rubis concept in China and the Peugeot 308R.
