Commonly, the control of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is focused on efficiency maximization by distributing engine and electrical machine power. The only state to be considered in such an optimization is the battery charge. In certain situations such as cold starts in winter additional aspects gain importance. Passenger safety and comfort require sufficient heating of the cabin draining thermal energy from the engine. Moreover, exhaust aftertreatment systems must be heated up fast to comply with emission limits. This becomes even more critical for short-haul cold start scenarios. In this paper, we propose a possible online solution based on model predictive control (MPC) to balance fuel consumption and emission minimization with thermal management showing to provide significant emission reduction compared to purely powertrain centered approaches.