Volkswagen’s off-road EV Scout brand will be made in America with new plant

Adventure seekers, buckle up. A new off-road electric pickup and SUV brand is coming to the US. Volkswagen is planning to build an entirely new plant for its recently acquired Scout EV brand, according to the German newspaper Automobilwoche.

The Scout brand dates back to the early 1960s when International Harvester Corporation (IHC) built the first model.

Scout’s compact four-wheel drive vehicle was the first real competitor to the popular Jeep brand before the Ford Bronco or Chevy Blazer. The brand quickly gained a following with new popular models, including some of the earliest versions of what we now call SUVs.

Despite the Scout brand’s success, IHC was having its own financial problems, which led to a business overhaul, including changing its name to Navistar, a commercial truck and engine builder.

Volkswagen acquired access to the Scout brand in 2021 after its trucking unit, Traton Group, merged with Navistar.

Shortly after, rumors surfaced VW was considering reviving the Scout brand, converting it to a new off-road EV company to compete in the quickly expanding US SUV market.

Volkswagen confirmed these rumors, saying the company will launch a new “all-electric pickup and rugged SUV” in the US under the Scout name. The first prototypes are expected to be revealed this year, with production slated for 2026.

Initially, it was suggested Volkswagen was in talks with Foxconn and Magna Steyr to help manufacture the vehicles, but a new report from Automobilwoche claims that VW will build its own EV plant in the US to produce Scout models and possibly Audi EVs as well.

VW to build Scout EV plant in the US

Automobilwoche learned from company circles that VW is no longer considering Foxconn or Magna for its Scout US facility.

Instead, the automaker plans to build its own plant, saying:

The decision to pull up the plant ourselves is availabe as a draft resolution and has thus been made.

In addition to the Scout brand, Volkswagen wants to make Audi EVs in the US, which Automobilwoche says the company will produce together at a new plant.

Audi recently teased its own off-road EV that doubles as a crossover and a pickup with a rear window that folds to open up ample cargo space in the bed of the “truck.”