Audi is already ready: it will not develop new diesel and petrol engines

The automotive sector is changing whether some like it or not. Electric mobility is a reality that is here to stay and will gradually eradicate combustion-engine cars. Irrefutable proof of this is Audi, a company that has just confirmed it will not manufacture new diesel or petrol engines. It will simply adapt its current range until, eventually, these engines disappear or give way to hybridisation, the only way internal combustion engines can survive in a very dark future for them.

This is because the implementation of the Euro 7 emissions regulation is imminent, and manufacturers see electric motors as the only way to escape its strict restrictions. With all this in mind, Audi announces that it will not pursue the natural evolution of thermal engines, taking for granted that this type of mechanics already has an expiry date at the company with the four rings.

All brands are speaking, in general and without being precise, of the year 2030 as the deadline for combustion vehicles. For now, Audi does not mention a specific date, but it has been one of the first companies to confirm that it will no longer work on its thermal engines.

And the CEO of Audi, Markus Duesmann, has confirmed that there is no point in continuing to develop petrol and diesel engines due to the high cost that adapting them for Euro 7 would entail. With this premise, Audi’s decision to adapt its current engine range until this latest regulation comes into force, and with it the end of the powertrains we know to date, makes sense.

With all this on the table, we are more aware that full electrification is an imminent reality. Everything will depend on how quickly the new regulation is imposed and how far the current thermal engines of not only Audi, but also of the other companies facing this situation can go.

In this way, the complete transition to electric mobility is served on a plate. All that remains is to determine the pace of this change in order to pinpoint an exact date by which all brands must succumb to electrification or, on the contrary, undertake significant development work to keep combustion engines, but at a price premium that not everyone would be willing to pay.