Looks like Bronco and Hummer aren't the only ones trying to cut in on Jeep's market.
Now a Scout EV may be coming from VW. The plan includes an EV SUV and an EV pickup.
Scouts were always cool. I could see them making a bang as the Bronco did, but VW would have to do it right. I don't think they could sell them through VW stores. They would need a separate dealer network that is more offroad-oriented, and if they could really hit the 40k price point they may have a chance.
For me, this all boils down to one thing......The all-out attack by the competition against Jeep is only intensifying.
Its heritage from The Second World War notwithstanding, Jeep as a brand for most of its history has never had to fight really hard for its place in the market. The new Ford Bronco models represented a kind of "shot across the bow" at Jeep. Now the rest of the competition must be sensing that there is some weakness on Jeep's part that could be mercilessly attacked.
Yikes!......This is starting to sound like an episode of Marlin Perkin's Wild Kingdom!
My uncle had a Scout when he lived out in Arizona, it was just an old beater by that point. It had a manual trans, and I was just learning to drive a manual then. You could remove the top, all it required was undoing about a thousand bolts IIRC.
Oh, and here’s another link to an article in case anybody doesn’t have/want a subscription to the WSJ:
The Wall Street Journal is reporting Volkswagen will approve the revival of the Scout as an off-road-focused brand serving as a subsidiary in the United States.
One of my best friends in high school was a 6th gen farmer. His grandmother told him upon graduation he could pick any car or truck he wanted no matter the cost. A bunch of us went to every dealer in two towns helping him decide. So on Sunday morning word got out his new car was parked in the back parking lot of the church. We all scrambled to to a fully tricked out "Scout"! After all the muscle cars we looked at he picked a Scout.
In the end we had so much fun in the Scout. Taking off doors, taking off the roof and using the wench to pull people out of the mud or the sand at Myrtle Beach. He drove the wheels off that sucker.
"VW owns Traton, Traton now owns Navistar, Navistar owns Scout. Having only sealed the deal a few months ago, though, any plan to build a new Scout would be in its infancy."
I know its Motortrend, but just because VW now has access to the name doesn't mean they weren't already working on vehicles that could now use that name. VW has been trying for years to make a bigger splash in North America so R&D has probably been looking at options like this for some time.
Volkswagen AG is set to resurrect the Scout off-road vehicle brand as part of its bid to expand in the U.S., the world’s most profitable automotive market.
Volkswagen will reportedly take a shot at Rivian by bringing back the Scout name as a sub-brand. Scout will initially sell two EVs: a pickup and an SUV.
My grandfather loved scouts and collected them. Unfortunately the old ones had a nasty way of rusting out. Would be interesting to see what they would do if they revive it.
it would not Suprise me to see VW sell the Scout factory direct like the other EV start ups Do. When I was growing up, one of are neighbors for a few years was a Chrysler-Plymouth and International Scout dealer,
Successor company from multiple sales of the original leaves VW with name rights UNLESS name rights were abandoned along the way. If so, then they could have applied and received those rights. You can be sure that the only resemblance to an original Scout will be the name, 4 wheels and probably 4 wheel drive.
VW will keep the looks, too, I'm pretty sure of that. Especially the round headlights. They know how big nostalgia is - otherwise nobody would have ever bought one of their vans/minivans.
Yes, Jeep had it pretty easy in the core business. They have progressed, but they did largely act like they had a monopoly, which they did.
Not having competition is exactly why Willys gave up everything but Jeep.
Willy's gave up on cars because they weren't selling. If you saw the 50's Willy's you would see why. Multiple failures in that era. Kaiser, Frasier and Bantam come to mind. Ever seen a King Midget?
I remember people bragging that Wrangler has no competition and Jeep could keep printing money and keep long cycles. But even before Bronco there was competition - some not so direct maybe, but used was always competition for new. Now competition is coming on several fronts. Time to shorten the cycle, get done substantial mid-cycle updates and protect Wrangler’s turf. And make my next Gladiator even more impressive.
With several companies planning or producing vehicles that target the removable top Wrangler perhaps Jeep needs to branch out itself and once again offer a solid axle fixed metal roof vehicle. Fixed metal roof would improve interior space while solid axles would provide off road capability close to that of the Wrangler. Make it uniframe and save some weight to improve fuel efficiency.
Only question I have did I h sell the name light line? Proper name for scout group when I started there in fort Wayne onnmeyer road next to main plant heavy line... Line92
Jeep currently owns the PHEV space for off-road, but VW is coming with an “all-American” BEV entrant: Scout. Factory will be located in South Carolina and has a US leadership team for the brand. Given VW’s resources, nobody should be sleeping on this move.
I think the reason Stellantis is bringing the Recon out next year is to directly take on Scout.
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