Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen took everyone by surprise when it announced the intention to revive the Scout brand as a maker of electric trucks and SUVs. Once the cat was out of the bag, Volkswagen moved quickly with the plans, and CEO Herbert Diess says they are now deciding where to build a factory in the U.S.
The automotive landscape gained a new carmaker when Volkswagen decided to revive the legendary Scout brand. Even before the first Bronco brought Ford fame on the trails, International Harvester Scout was a reputable off-roader. The Scout name landed in Volkswagen’s yard when its subsidiary Traton bought the Navistar International and will soon return to the U.S. as a new carmaker.
Although it is a well-known thing that Volkswagen needs a truck to take on the difficult U.S. market, few expected to see Volkswagen establishing a new carmaker for that. Perhaps even within Volkswagen, things are not yet sorted out, considering that many questions have been left unanswered. But as new information surfaces, we begin to see the bigger picture.
The latest piece of the puzzle that has fallen into place is the Volkswagen CEO’s announcement that Scout will have its own factory in the U.S. We kind of expected that, but this official confirmation is further proof that the new brand will operate independently. Volkswagen will decide this year on where the new factory will be built. This includes “brownfield sites and some greenfield locations,” as Diess confirmed for Automotive News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
With a new company and a new factory building new electric vehicles that have nothing to do with Volkswagen’s existing lineup, Scout looks more and more like an EV startup. This should spell trouble for Volkswagen dealers, which were left on the side. Scout seems prepared to sell its vehicles directly to its customers, a strategy that worked for Tesla and has also started to gain traction with traditional carmakers.
Scout should prove popular with U.S. customers, and Volkswagen is already considering expanding its reach. According to the company’s executives, Scout will build not only passenger vehicles but also commercial vehicles. This makes a lot of sense since the second product planned under the Scout brand is a pickup truck.
Although it is a well-known thing that Volkswagen needs a truck to take on the difficult U.S. market, few expected to see Volkswagen establishing a new carmaker for that. Perhaps even within Volkswagen, things are not yet sorted out, considering that many questions have been left unanswered. But as new information surfaces, we begin to see the bigger picture.
The latest piece of the puzzle that has fallen into place is the Volkswagen CEO’s announcement that Scout will have its own factory in the U.S. We kind of expected that, but this official confirmation is further proof that the new brand will operate independently. Volkswagen will decide this year on where the new factory will be built. This includes “brownfield sites and some greenfield locations,” as Diess confirmed for Automotive News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
With a new company and a new factory building new electric vehicles that have nothing to do with Volkswagen’s existing lineup, Scout looks more and more like an EV startup. This should spell trouble for Volkswagen dealers, which were left on the side. Scout seems prepared to sell its vehicles directly to its customers, a strategy that worked for Tesla and has also started to gain traction with traditional carmakers.
Scout should prove popular with U.S. customers, and Volkswagen is already considering expanding its reach. According to the company’s executives, Scout will build not only passenger vehicles but also commercial vehicles. This makes a lot of sense since the second product planned under the Scout brand is a pickup truck.
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