Scout Motors Promises To Be “The Next Great Iconic American Brand”
The last off-roader to wear a Scout badge was sold 44 years ago, but now, nearly five decades later, Volkswagen has revived the brand and is on the verge of unveiling the first two models to wear the Scout Motors badge – a new Scout Pickup and SUV. That reveal is just two weeks away (44 years to the week that the last Scout II rolled off the production line), and Scout is kicking up its teaser campaign into high gear. In a new video posted to the brand’s social media platforms, visible below, Scout aims to ramp up excitement for the new models by showing coy glimpses of one of the cars while looking outward at the design and management team working on its design.
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Various designers and brand CEO Scott Keogh all discuss the brand’s heritage, the opportunity for this as a new legacy brand, and what could have been if Scout had continued building cars instead of stopping back in 1980.
Scout Motors
Scout Motors is an American automaker that was established in 2022 to produce electric off-road vehicles. It is currently owned by Volkswagen Group, which acquired the rights to the brand from International Harvester. The brand is an entirely new company but will build on the legacy of the original Scout off-roaders, launching two models: an SUV and a pickup truck on a new electric box-frame chassis platform, which will be produced in Blythewood, South Carolina.
- Founded
- May 2022
- Founder
- Volkswagen Group
- Headquarters
- Detroit, Michigan
- Owned By
- Volkswagen Group
- Current CEO
- Scott Keough
Leaning Into The Heritage Of Scout
Throughout the video, the voices of all those involved lean into the heritage of the original models, which were genuine rivals to the likes of the Bronco and Wagoneer of the era. “I think it is an icon,” says CEO Scott Keogh, continuing, “It introduced America to a sport utility vehicle at a time when there [weren’t] many out there, called it an eight-day-a-week truck – which I loved. The story was iconic. The design is iconic.”
And it’s that iconic design Scout wants to leverage, with designers claiming that “What we’ve been thinking about here at Scout is how do you capture the magic of Scout from the 60s and 70s and how do you put that into the modern day?”
What it all points to is two new models that will be heavily retro in their style and purpose, but singular in their focus, to be the best electric off-roaders around, and the foundation of what Keogh labels “the next great, iconic American brand.”
“I think the essence of a Scout is in its definition – it’s someone who goes forth to discover, goes forth to try new things, goes forth to improve society, and, heck, enjoy yourself. I think we’re looking at the next great, iconic American brand.”
– Scott Keogh, CEO of Scout Motors
Two Models, All-Electric, All Off-Road
The teaser is pure hype for the brand and doesn’t really reveal anything we didn’t already know design-wise. But it does show a little extra detail on the liquid-filled compass that has been shown in prior teasers and which will be a unique design element inside the new Scout duo. Speaking of the duo, lots still needs to be confirmed, but we already know a fair amount.
For starters, both will be all-electric and hit the road in 2026; the cars we’ll see on 24 October will be concepts or prototypes of those to come. We also know they won’t simply be reskinned models on existing VW underpinnings. No, the Scout SUV and Scout Pickup – with names unconfirmed, although we’ve discovered a few potentials – will utilize a new ladder-frame chassis with integrated traction batteries. We suspected this would be the case after discovering patents for a box-frame electric pickup back in 2022, but Scout later confirmed this.
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We don’t yet know what size categories the vehicles will sit in, but if we were to hazard an informed guess, we’d say the midsize segment is where Scout will pitch them as true rivals to the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Rivian R1S, and Rivian R1T. A $50,000 starting price is expected, too, which tracks for this segment.
We also know that despite boasting a retro design, it will still be modern in appearance and that inside, it will have lots of “chunky buttons” instead of an interface dominated by screens.
The two models will be built in South Carolina, meaning when they arrive in 2026, they’ll be eligible for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits.
