The 1960s and ’70s were the golden age of the square-bodied sport utility vehicles with International Harvester, Ford, Jeep and Chevrolet creating rugged off-roaders for adventurous Americans.
Then, International Harvester’s Scout brand featured a popular lineup of rugged SUVs and pickup trucks before falling out of popularity in the early ’80s. This led to the sale of its passenger vehicle business to Navistar International in 1986, followed by the purchase of Navistar by Volkswagen Group in 2020.
Flash forward to 2024: Scout has been reborn as Scout Motors, an American startup, stand-alone brand with backing by Volkswagen Group. The Group’s brands include Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley and Volkswagen in the U.S.
The first vehicles out of the gate for the brand will be the Scout Traveler, an SUV that pays visual homage to the brand’s roots and those golden years, and the Terra truck, which also features retro-modern styling.
The Traveler isn’t just a rebadged version of a model from the Group pool. Traveler is a completely new vehicle from the ground up that was designed and engineered utilizing only Group financial resources; all engineering and design was completed solely by Scout. Once on sale, Scout will once again be positioned to take on traditional rivals Ford and Jeep, but also relative newcomer Rivian.
As Scout pushes forward with finalizing details of the model in the coming years, it is building a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Blythewood, South Carolina. Vehicle production is expected to start in the second half of the decade. The company has already hired nearly 350 employees. It has the potential to create over 4,000 permanent jobs, and the plant is part of a $2 billion investment, Scout Motors representatives said. When running at full capacity, the factory could produce more than 200,000 vehicles per year.
“We knew that creating a new auto manufacturer while simultaneously revitalizing an American icon was audacious. It comes with tough timelines and big bets. We’re designing and engineering new vehicles, building the infrastructure and operations of a large-scale company and constructing a new factory from the ground up. Each of these are herculean tasks,” Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Scout Motors, told Newsweek.
“The early foundations are in place and now we’re accelerating,” Keogh elaborated.
Since the company was reborn, the automotive market has shifted, with companies pulling back on battery-electric vehicle investment in favor of extending the lifecycle of their existing hybrid powertrains.
“In the midst of building and planning, we’re also seeing major change in the automotive landscape. Consumer preferences are evolving and the presence of electric vehicles in the market is maturing. These things make planning more difficult, but they also create opportunity. They’re also a reminder that, as a startup, if you stay agile and truly listen to consumers, the ability to leverage new market dynamics becomes an advantage,” Keogh said.
Scout Motors’ trucks and SUVs will be built on a newly designed all-electric platform, engineered to deliver credible capability and off-road prowess, with a focus on ground clearance, as well as approach and departure angles, robust axles, payload and range and new digital features.
“October 24 marked an important milestone. Not only were we able to show the concept vehicles, but we began accepting reservations and getting a sense of consumer preferences. We’ll continue to grow the community of enthusiasts and reservation-holders through in-person events and the Scout Motors online forum, finding ways to interact and, eventually, to spread product experiences to as many people as possible,” Keogh said.
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