Hyundai Porter, Kia Bongo to ditch diesel engines before 2024

According to Daily Car, the Kia Bongo and the Hyundai Porter will only be available on their domestic market of South Korea in two flavors: battery-electric and LPG.

According to the report, Hyundai plans to discontinue the diesel-powered version of its Porter flatbed truck in December. As for Kia, it stopped producing the diesel Bongo last month. The new Porter EV has ben enjoying brisk sales in Korea, finding up to 2,500 buyers every month.

With the heavy fuel engine discontinued, both models will mainly be offered with a 2.5-liter turbo engine running on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). It is said to be cleaner than the diesel while offering 10% better fuel economy. Automatic is the only transmission available.

Apparently, the changes are caused by South Korea adopting new environment protection standards that the current diesel engine no longer complies with. Redesigning it would be hard to justify from the financial standpoint. The LPG versions of the trucks cost more than the diesel ones, but state subsidies are expected to negate any differences.