Volkswagen Group's Scout brand for electric crossovers and pickups has its first leader. Scott Keogh, currently the President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, will take over the role as Scout's president and CEO starting September 1. Pablo Di Si, the Executive Chairman of Volkswagen South American Region, will take over Keogh's previous role of running VW Group in North America.
VW Group intends for Scout to operate as an independent company from its other automotive operations. The new brand will focus on appealing to the United States. This will include developing and manufacturing the marque's products in the US.
VW Group announced the creation of the Scout brand in May 2022 and outlined putting the first products from the new company on sale in 2026. Prototypes for the Scout pickup and SUV will debut in 2024.
Volkswagen Group's EV strategy in the US is to have more than 25 electric models available by 2030. Its ambition is to double the market share of the company's various brands in the country.
To make this happen, the automaker is expanding its EV production capabilities in the US. For example, it will begin building the electric ID.4 in Chattanooga. There will be a $7.1 billion investment into North America over the next five years to fund the electric model expansion.
Pablo Di Si will give up his role running VW Group in South America to take over operations in North America. The automaker will announce his successor there at a later date.
Scott Keogh joined Volkswagen Group in 2006 as the chief marketing officer for Audi of America. In 2012, he became President and CEO of Audi of America. He took over as President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America and Head of the Volkswagen Brand in North America in 2018.
Pablo Di Si had his first job with the automaker as President an CEO of Volkswagen Argentina in 2014. That leadership expanded to running things for Brazil and Latin America in 2017.
If you want to hear more about the revival of the Scout brand and look at a brochure for some of the original models, check out this episode of Rambling About Cars:
