While most carmakers are racing to implement some progress along the road of autonomous driving, Porsche is saying it will not lead the charge in that direction. However, the company sees its future in plug-in hybrid and electric models and plans to challenge Tesla very soon with a very powerful model before 2020.

In an interview with a German newspaper, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume confirmed that the company intends to offer hybrid versions of all its models in the foreseeable future.

More significantly, Blume said he does not believe in driverless cars as part of Porsche’s future.

“An iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road,” he said.

The whole point of buying a Porsche is to drive it rather than sit and watch it drive itself.

The company will be spending one billion euros at its plant near Stuttgart to make its first all-electric sports car, a production version of the Mission E Concept revealed at Frankfurt last September.

This is yet another indication that Porsche, and the VW group in general, are moving toward a cleaner future after the VW emission scandal.

The specs of the production model of the Mission E model would be awesome.

It will have more than 600 bhp and a range of 500 km. Such a model would be more than a match for the Tesla Model S.

Porsche is not likely to enter into partnerships with technology companies such as Apple and Google.

Blume regards such partnerships useful only if the carmaker lacks certain skills.

He does not believe his company needs any of the other players in the market.

He said in his interview: “Partnerships are generally not a bad idea if one’s own competencies are insufficient. But we are on the one hand part of a strong company and on the other hand have no plans to lead the charge in autonomous driving. We’ll leave that to others.”

If you plan to buy a Porsche in the next five years, you can have a hybrid or an electric version but you will need to drive it yourself.

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* Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.

Email: [email protected]