The Dieselgate scandal cast shadows of doubt across the whole of the VW Group. While the company will be forced to pay more than £19 billion and shutter nearly all of its diesel sales in the US as a result, Porsche could also be considering a move away from diesel entirely before the end of the decade.

According to Reuters, Porsche will have to decide whether its latest generation of diesel engines will be the last to be produced, with CEO Oliver Blume saying that the German manufacturer could discontinue diesel engines entirely. The company is currently being accused of using steering movements to cheat emissions.

Porsche Cayenne S Diesel

'Of course we are looking into this issue,' CEO Blume said in the Reuters interview. 'We have not made a decision on it. For the generations that will follow there are different scenarios.' Porsche has already begun to offer a smattering of hybrid and electric vehicle options for its cars to assess demand before deciding the fate of its diesel engines.

Currently diesel makes up about 15 percent of Porsche’s global sales – the company sold a record 237,778 cars in 2016 – a significant amount less than competitors such as BMW, for instance, where diesels account for 35 percent of global sales.

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The diesel engine option was first introduced in 2009 on the German sports car maker's Cayenne SUV, and will be offered when the new version makes its debut in just a few weeks.

Already we’ve seen prototypes of the SUV testing with very limited camo. Alongside the diesel, Porsche will also offer a Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid, which will use the same hybrid powertrain from the Panamera with the same name.

Read our review of the hybrid setup in the new Panamera Sport Turismo.

Gallery: Porsche Cayenne S Diesel