Between 1961 and 1980, big-rig semi-tractor and farm-implement maker Worldwide Harvester constructed a tidy, rugged, succesful off-road SUV known as Scout. The Scout competed for gross sales with automobiles from Chevrolet, Ford, and Jeep, however preceded all of them to market. Respectively, the Blazer arrived for 1969, the Bronco for 1966, and the Wagoneer for 1963. The Scout by no means bought in particularly huge numbers, however served properly Harvester’s core agricultural clientele, most of whom possible appreciated the Scout’s trim footprint and go-anywhere 4WD.
2027 Scouts
Historical past
Later, then generally known as the Scout II, the scrappy Harvester loved the advertising push of a critical advert marketing campaign for 1979 and 1980, together with the introduction of a Nissan-supplied diesel engine, however gross sales by no means reached hoped-for ranges. Harvester deserted the Scout after that, having already ended gross sales of a rugged however slow-selling pickup truck in 1975. Thought appreciated by a distinct segment viewers of classic-truck aficionados, the Scout by no means loved the identical love as did classic Ford Broncos.
Time handed, and Worldwide Harvester grew to become Navistar, and in July of 2021, Navistar was acquired by the Volkswagen Group, and have become a part of the German maker’s huge Traton commercial-truck operation. For these not within the know, Traton’s holdings embrace such makers as Scania AB (as soon as a part of Saab), Man (busses and large rigs), and, in fact, Worldwide. Although owned by VW, Navistar maintains its headquarters in suburban Chicago, and continues to construct widespread Worldwide-brand business vans.
New Scouts
Quick ahead to right now: Volkswagen company sorts, trying to develop a brand new, electric-truck-only model particularly for the U.S. market, realized it had advertising gold in its model portfolio within the type of the Scout title, which it acquired as a part of the Navistar deal.
The all-new Scout model, which isn’t a division of Volkswagen, however an entirely owned subsidiary (we’ll discuss why that distinction is necessary in a second), revealed this week—in idea kind– it’s two preliminary merchandise, the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck. Notice that Traveler and Tera have been variations of the unique Scout.
Scouts Shall be Electrical
The Scout people have been sparse with info, however we all know a pair issues. First, along with the electrical drivetrain at all times supposed for these automobiles, Scout may even provide an extended-range variant, about which we all know little. Nevertheless, extended-range variations of both Scout will function a gasoline engine that can present electrical energy ought to the Traveler’s or Terra’s batteries totally deplete.
Dimension and Class
The 4-door Traveler crossover idea is 208 inches lengthy, considerably longer than a Ford Explorer (199 inches), closing in on the full-size Ford Expedition (210 inches.)
Likewise, the Terra pickup truck idea is 229 inches lengthy, simply shy of a Ford short-bed F-150 crew-cab. Appears that Volkswagen will likely be making an attempt to crack the full-size truck market simply after Nissan discontinued the Titan. In fact, the Titan was not electrical.
Cabin
Each vans function a charmingly reimagined Seventies/Eighties-era cabin, in addition to a Scout brand true to the unique.
Notice that the Scout loved a pair many years of on-again/off-again promoting help. You possibly can take a look at a few of these traditional journal ads
And about Scout being a subsidiary…
Scout Motors
Volkswagen intends to market Scout vans by way of a direct-to-consumer mannequin, thus sidestepping the normal franchise-dealership mannequin. This issues for a few causes. First, Volkswagen sellers will definitely see this association as a betrayal of their franchise agreements with VW, although their declare on the Scout model is tenuous. Audi and Porsche, additionally VW division might make the identical declare.
However, extra importantly, Volkswagen’s U.S. operation has for years been petitioning the house workplace for a pickup truck to promote within the U.S. And whereas Volkswagen appears to agree that the time is true to promote a pickup Stateside, it received’t achieve this by the VW community.
Dealerships
Notice that Scout will set up a community of “retail areas” all through the U.S., although count on the whole depend of shops to be comparatively low, and, at the least initially, situated close to EV-friend cities. Per Scout, the brand new vans be produced in South Carolina, with the primary automobiles rolling off the road in 2026 as 2027 fashions.
Enjoyable Reality: Swiss bespoke luxurious carmaker Monteverdi constructed a limited-production SUV known as the Safari utilizing the chassis of the Scout. You possibly can examine that very-rare truck right here.
CG Says
We very enthusiastic about Scout Motors, and it’s seemingly market-savvy strategy to retailing electrical automobiles. Volkswagen has struggled to maneuver electrical merchandise, however this America-specific, legacy-themed effort feels stable. That mentioned, solely Toyota has ever cracked the full-size-pickup code within the U.S., although we’re cautiously optimistic VW in on the precise path.
Including and extended-range powertrain choices to the vans was a last-minute add by the Scout people, however the function, fairly priced, could also be sufficient to being EV averse people into the model.
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2027 Scouts
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