Volkswagen is bringing back the Scout brand, known for the International Harvester Scout off-roader, and plans to launch two brand new electric models, one SUV, one pickup that should debut in the United States around the year 2026. The German giant wants to build both of them in the US, possibly at a new (second) manufacturing location that it may build next to its existing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The vehicles will have all the features that we’ve already seen on rival models, like rear-wheel steering, adjustable suspension, solar charging and vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, and according to one report from Germany, the planned annual production target is 600,000 units. Even though this will be a VW company, the goal is to make Scout an American-designed and American-built product , on top of borrowing retro design cues from the original.
So far we have only seen design sketch teasers showing both of the two vehicles, which just like other manufacturers have done, are basically two versions of the same basic vehicle (like the Rivian R1T and R1S, or the two versions of the GMC Hummer EV). TopElectricSUV has rendered the side profiles of both vehicles quite believably, although they did take some liberties given that the sketches leave out some key details.
In fact, it’s very likely that not even VW itself knows what the two electric Scouts are going to look like exactly, as their production is still a good few years away. We don’t even know what platform they will be based on or any kind of preliminary specs - all we have to go on are the sketches and the very limited information that the automaker has provided so far.
These two renderings certainly add some context and fill in some of the blanks, although it’s all speculative at this point - well done, but ultimately not very representative of the finished product since there's just not that much to go on right now. Overall, it surely won’t be a bad looking truck, although it will look more like the new Ford Bronco than any other electric SUV or pickup.
