Volkswagen will stop making gas-powered cars by 2026

Volkswagen will shift to producing electric cars after 2026, the company announced this week.

The company’s strategy chief, Michael Jost, made the announcement at the Handelsblatt automotive summit conference held at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

“In the year 2026 will be the last product start on a combustion engine platform,” Jost said at the summit.

{mosads}A spokesperson for the automaker confirmed to Reuters that Jost’s remarks meant that the company would instead be shifting its focus to electric cars after 2026.

The decision to stop producing gas-powered cars is Volkswagen’s latest effort to recover from an international emissions-cheating scandal.

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of deliberately cheating greenhouse gas emissions tests for some of its diesel vehicles. The company, which currently is Europe’s and China’s best-selling passenger car brand, has paid billions in settlements over the scandal.

According to Reuters, the German carmaker will continue to adapt its gas- and diesel-powered cars to meet current environmental standards during the lifetime of such vehicles, but Jost has confirmed that the company is now focusing on taking radical steps to combat global warming.