Volkswagen Is Building a Scout Factory in South Carolina

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Volkswagen Is Building a Scout Factory in South Carolina http://dlvr.it/SkKsKp

Link to tweet

Volkswagen Is Building a Scout Factory in South Carolina

The legendary 4x4 brand revived by VW Group will build all-electric SUVs in the Palmetto State starting in 2026.

By Andy Kalmowitz
PublishedFriday 6:00PM

Scout, Volkswagen’s newly revived electric off-road vehicle spinoff, has officially found a home for its production facility. In a tweet, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced that Scout will break ground on an all-new plant in his state.

Gov. McMaster said the $2-billion plant in Blythewood, South Carolina will bring around 4,000 jobs to the palmetto state. According to Reuters, the factory should be capable of producing about 200,000 Scout EVs per year when it’s fully up and running. The new factory, built on 1,100 acres of land, will be located about 350 miles from Volkswagen’s current plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The outlet reports that groundbreaking is planned to start in the middle of 2023, and the facility should be up and running for Scout production by the end of 2026.

{snip}

[MichMan]

1. Picture is stupid

VW is not remaking the 70's International Scout

[Docreed2003]

2. Actually they are

Capturing the spirit of Americans is a big part of what Keogh hopes and plans to do with Scout Motors, an all-electric brand launched with a $100 million investment from Volkswagen that plans to start shipping its first vehicle, an off-road focused SUV priced around $40,000, by the end of 2026. Scout was the former consumer automotive brand of International Harvester, which ended production in 1980 in the wake of labor disputes and the 1979 energy crisis.

http://techcrunch.com/2023/03/03/how-scout-motors-plans-to-bring-rugged-retro-cred-to-the-ev-era/amp/

The picture is accurate

[MichMan]

3. According to the link, the 70's Scout II in the picture is not what they are building

And what about the Scout loyalists, who’re still repping the brand at annual events like Harvester Homecoming? “In fairness, it runs the gamut,” Keogh said of the feedback they received, with some finding the style a bit too progressive. But, Keogh says, they need to move the brand forward. “We would now be on the Scout 8,” he said, if International Harvester had never stopped making the cars after the Scout II. “Certainly you would not want the Scout VIII to be like the Scout II.”


For Keogh, the key to attracting customers is in the name. “It’s a simple line that we’ve been using, but I think it works, this concept that the world does need more Scouts. Scouts can manifest themselves in things like hiking, climbing Everest, let’s say the more extreme side of scouts, or they can be dramatically less extreme as well, to tailgating to someone who knows the latest ideas.”

While Keogh is adamant that the new Scout will honor the past, it won’t be a brand hung up on legacy like some of its gas-burning competition: “I don’t want to make Scout a fossilized retro brand that says: ‘Dear America, it’s 1977. Again.'”

[Docreed2003]

5. They making an electric SUV modeled on IH's Scout

They don't have a design yet and of course they want people to be nostalgic for the brand, so the vintage Scout pics will be in every bit of news coverage leading up to the release. You can call it stupid all you want but it's accurate

[doc03]

4. Will they still turn to rust as soon as you drive

them off the lot? I am wondering how an off road EV would fair when it is driven through water?

[Historic NY]

7. We could have had these.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/37200/international-harvester-almost-built-the-scout-out-of-composites-that-wouldnt-rust

[doc03]

8. I shouldn't complain about rust, I helped make the steel

IH used. I test drove a Scout and a Ford Bronco in 1973 but bought
the Bronco. There was something I liked more on the Bronco don't remember what it was.

[Historic NY]

6. I almost ordered a 1980 which you could get some crazy options

They even had diesel. The Midas was a totally upscaled version with shag carpets. The fleet shop we used said IH is on the way out the door and talked me out of ordering.