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Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America
- Animats 4y agoNice, especially since Jeep is discontinuing the 2-door Wrangler, and doesn't make it in electric at all.
- macintux 4y agoCitation? I follow Jeep news very closely and haven’t heard any rumblings of a 2-door cancellation. Electric seems inevitable, however.
- Animats 4y agoSee http://www.google.com http://www.google.com * "Jeep Ending Wrangler Two-Door Sales In Key Market" [1] * "Stellantis to Kill the Two-Door Jeep Wrangler in Europe" [2] * https://www.jeep.com/ https://www.jeep.com/ Note total absence of 2 door models in pictures. * Electric available only in 4-door.[3] [1] https://carbuzz.com/news/jeep-ending-wrangler-two-door-sales-in-key-market https://carbuzz.com/news/jeep-ending-wrangler-two-door-sales... [2] https://www.autoevolution.com/news/stellantis-to-kill-the-two-door-jeep-wrangler-in-europe-164342.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/stellantis-to-kill-the-tw... [3] https://www.jeep.com/bmo.wrangler_4xe.2023.html https://www.jeep.com/bmo.wrangler_4xe.2023.html
- macintux 4y agoAh, yes, I tend to forget there’s a world outside the U.S. I think the electric Wrangler will arrive in time to save the 2-door in the U.S.
- Animats 4y agoThe problem is that Stellantis is pushing their hybrid system, and that won't fit in the 2-door platform. They've shown an electric 2-door prototype, but are not shipping it. Jeep had a huge hit with the mommymobile version of the Wrangler. Before the 4-door, the Jeep Wrangler was mostly a basic vehicle. Now they come with rear seat entertainment systems, far higher prices, and huge markups.
- macintux 4y agoAgreed that the 4-door turned Jeep into a money-printing machine, but they have managed to keep the Wrangler as close to its roots as regulatorily-possible. I don’t see them giving up on 2 doors without a fight. (I may be biased because I own two vehicles, both 2-door Wranglers.)
- lightwin 4y ago>> Now, amid a historic shift to electric vehicles (EVs), VW sees an opportunity to reconnect with U.S. consumers by offering EVs in the segments they care most about: pickup trucks and large SUVs. >> Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, will become president and CEO of Scout on Sept. 1 >> He will be succeeded by Pablo Di Si, currently the executive chairman of Volkswagen's South American Region. Di Si will oversee the entire North American region, as did Keogh.
- themodelplumber 4y agoThat's pretty interesting, and TBH I would probably watch a tie-in post apoc movie featuring Tom Hanks driving around a heavily-kitbashed version of whatever the new Scout is.
- ThePhysicist 4y agoI'm pretty psyched about the "Buzz", an electric reboot of the famous T1 bus [1]. Not sure how I would actually use this but it seems they're finally getting to grips with what made people love VW's in the past, and translating that to electric vehicles. I've also driven their electric ID.3 and it's just not nearly as exciting. 1: https://www.vw.com/en/models/id-buzz.html https://www.vw.com/en/models/id-buzz.html
- spython 4y agoIncredibly disappointed with how designed the front on this one. The original T1 had round 'eyes' and a friendly look; the headlights on the new one give it a mean squinting look.
- abawany 4y agoThe US version will apparently be the long wheelbase expensive version, which imo is disappointing but the variants being offered in EU are pretty exciting.
- EricE 4y agoYou can thank the chicken tax for killing off true mini truck options https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
- zactato 4y agoI hope this ends up being smaller than the F150. I get the popularity of that form factor, but I simply don't believe that many people are hauling yards of soil or towing boats. 2 Seats + 6 Foot bed seems like a winning combination in practicality, but is quite rare in the US.
- jandrese 4y agoNon-crew cab is almost extinct. I think there are tax/regulatory reasons for this, but it also drives me crazy that so many trucks have beds that are terrible at carrying 8' long items like 2x4s and plywood sheets. At least with a 6' bed the stuff is only sticking out a little past the end of the tailgate.
- rootusrootus 4y agoI would wager it is only the retail market where the non-crew-cab is nearly extinct. A two seat pickup is a niche vehicle, about as useful for carrying a family around as a two seat sports car.
- corrral 4y ago> A two seat pickup is a niche vehicle, about as useful for carrying a family around as a two seat sports car. Not to country folk—kids ride in the bed. Or crammed in the middle if there aren't too many of them and they're still fairly small and you're lucky enough to still have a bench seat.
- alistairSH 4y agoNot legally (in many states).
- corrral 4y agoNever stopped country folk before. See also: shooting stop signs. Doesn't work for suburbanites with trucks, though.
- jmrm 4y agoWith the popularity of similar looking vehicles, like the new Ford Bronco or the Suzuki Jimny, I'd bet they wouldn't struggle selling a Scout inspired one.
- orangepurple 4y agoI have heard that VW suffers in the USA because of extremely poor and predatory dealership experiences
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- browningstreet 4y agoI bought VWs & Audis in 3 states and had no issues. I also had zero problems with any of my cars... including A6s and my last VW product was a VW CC. But after that, the cars were always out of step with what they were competing with. VW started making "VWs cars for Americans in America", like the Atlas. I bought a Highlander because the Atlas was bigger than I wanted, had less tech (at the beginning, not true at the end). ID4? I bought a Tesla Y. I wanted an R as my last ICE vehicle, couldn't get one to save my life, and I tried. They're #2 globally behind Toyota, but I think they're moving a ton of Tiguans nowadays.
- balls187 4y ago> I wanted an R as my last ICE vehicle, couldn't get one to save my life, and I tried. Some how I got a 2016 R (manual) on launch; it's my current vehicle, and I cannot bear the idea of parting with it, but I will most likely be selling it to by a EUV.
- itsoktocry 4y agoI had a 2018 Golf R (automatic). Loved it. Unfortunately, my family outgrew it, and I had trade it in for a Tiguan. The Tiguan is..okay. A bit underpowered, but it's slightly larger than other SUVs in this class. As far as the reputation of VW dealers: they are the same as any other car company. Some are good, some are bad. My dealer is fine.
- greedo 4y agoI love my VW CC (2013) when it runs, but geez I've had engine trouble, the faulty suspension that leads to tire cupping drives me nuts, and the VW dealer in my town sucks. I swore off VW a few years ago, but the new VW bus replacement might make me change my mind.
- josephpmay 4y agoThis is actually a pretty interesting story, from a career perspective: The CEO of VW North America is on vacation with his family, sees a restored classic Scout, and falls in love with it. He finds out that coincidentally VW now owns the rights to the Scout brand, so he steps down from his post to start a new Scout subsidiary.
- ThePhysicist 4y agoStartup life has ruined me, so I'll never be able to believe such an origin story anymore and always assume it's something that PR/marketing has made up.
- jagger27 4y agoThe most believable part of the story is that the exec didn’t know Volkwagen Group had the rights to the name. The company is absolutely gargantuan. It’s a great move. Of the main VW brands I can’t think of one that I would associate with rugged vehicles. SUVs, sure, but not pickup trucks.
- rasz 4y agowhat about kubelwagen and schwimmwagen? too soon? :)
- dylan604 4y ago
- renewiltord 4y agoI would absolutely love a pickup truck that I can use in SF. All the modern ones are absolutely humongous. I had a Titan and that thing was enormous. Cost me absolute bags of money to offset the carbon. Ultimately, I just want something with a bed that I can strap my bike down and take somewhere to ride. You can't really do that with the Forester I have now.
- rasz 4y ago>strap my bike down and take somewhere to ride. You can't really do that with the Forester you mean like $1500 folding Motorcycle trailer? or even cheaper https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Motorcycle-Trailer-Rental/MT/ https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Motorcycle-Trailer-Rental/MT/
- renewiltord 4y agoHaha that's not a bad option. I suppose I wanted some multi utility. I generally dislike trailers but the bike trailer is actually easier to get bikes onto.
- EricE 4y agoHyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick are two recent models moving in the right direction for those of us who would like to see true mini-pickups return to the US.
- thecrumb 4y agoThey are still huge compared to the original SR-5/Tacoma.
- waiseristy 4y agoYou know that is never coming back right? Safety standards do not allow vehicles of that size and profile. There are multiple references to the 1st gen Tacomas in this thread and I'm having a hard time understanding why it keeps being brought up. It's a 20-25 year old vehicle
- balls187 4y ago> Despite its global standing as the world's second-largest carmaker, Volkswagen is a chronic underachiever in the United States. There is a large community of VW enthusiasts in the US, and yet that market is never treated as anything other than an afterthought by VW. Despite being 2nd generation VW owner (my dad drove an original beetle, and my first and second vehicles were both Golfs), my next vehicle will be a Ford.
- WorldMaker 4y agoI still think it was a massive mistake that VW skipped selling the ID.3 to focus on the ID.4 in the US, assuming all Americans would prefer the SUV-like ID.4. The ID.3 is the true EV successor [0] of the Golf and every American fan of VW that I know loves the Golf and had one or two of them. (I'd consider the ID.3. I don't want an ID.4.) [0] For a few years they made an "e-Golf" that was batteries badly fit into an unmodified Golf frame. The ID.3 is bespoke EV on the shared MEB architecture.
- olivermarks 4y agoI've owned an International Harvester 73 Scout II 4x4 345/torqueflite since 1999. We've had Ford, the company that managed to kill off the lightline range in 1979 by colluding with their big three partners to crush IH, bringing out their flimsy '60's "Bronco' scout copy which they recently resurrected as a blatant Scout 800 body styling clone. My point - why are the big auto makers so terrible at innovation and naming conventions? Why do we have to endure these irritating stories about execs 'resurrecting' past era vehicles and trying to get some of the mystique to rub off on their lame new models? I also own a 1967 IH Travelall 4 x4. IH were absolutely awesome at building vehicles that were very beefy and mechanically built to last but horrifically rust prone. They helped kill themselves by ludicrously over optioning their lightline vehicles with what seemed like 100's of trim options, variants and levels that were very hard to organize on the assembly line. The golden era of US automobile manufacturing being culturally strip mined by VW. 1968 International Scout TV Commercial featuring a beagle puppy cute https://youtu.be/nKj3sjmRm5U https://youtu.be/nKj3sjmRm5U
- dieselgate 4y agoWhoah you mentioned some interesting background into the history of IH. Seeing VW pair with IH was also very surprising to see in the article - especially in regards to EVs (as IH has predominately been a diesel manufacturer in my lifetime). Why did Ford want to “crush” IH if they put their Diesel engines into Ford trucks for like 3 decades? There was a HN post recently about the stagnation of music and movie/video/film production and it seems to maybe tie into this phenomena. I’m also laughing a bit because my daily driver is an 02 new beetle tdi (alongside an 88 f250 with the IH engine). I remember being pretty critical of the new beetles when they first came out but they’re just cheap now and have good reliable engines..
- olivermarks 4y agoThe IH lightline range were pretty well all gasoline powered consumer level vehicles with an agricultural/offroad pedigree. The 345 v8 in a scout is the same engine as IH put in the big yellow school buses, tons of low end torque, if it wasn't for gravity they could climb just about anything. Very easy to work on with a few foibles. The IH full size truck division became Navistar and are a very different breed. Those early beetles are basically a scirroco floorpan, watch out for the plastic waterpump blade...we had one where that failed with little noise or evidence until steam. Great cars though!
- smm11 4y agoHey, VW, give me a Scout. Because I had a TDI that I had to give up, and I won't get into it, but I was ripped off.
- waiseristy 4y agoGood. America's midsize truck options are not super great at the moment. Electrification of the midsize segment has even worse prospects. Toyota & GM are way way way behind the curve
- EricE 4y agoThey aren't great because they don't have to be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax If more people would lobby their congress critter(s) to repeal the ridiculous chicken tax we might actually see some interesting options in the low end again!
- thecrumb 4y agoIf they made an affordable, electric truck about the size of the original SR-5/Tacoma with a simple interior I could easily clean I'd buy one. This will end up being another over-sized, over-priced American mess that no one actually takes off-road.
- drewg123 4y agoMy family bought a diesel IH Scout in the 70s. Its probably the worst car I've ever ridden in. 0-60 in an afternoon with a tailwind, horrible suspension, noisy, etc. It was replaced by an early 80s Jeep Cherokee, which was a huge upgrade. So Scout isn't something I'm super nostalgic about..
- dieselgate 4y agoThis made me chuckle, you have a point. Diesels are much much better to drive when turbo charged - I wasn’t alive in the 70s but am curious what the expectations were for passenger vehicles made by a tractor company, it was presumably a “tank” though
- gtm1260 4y agoHere's hoping for a tiny, extremely bare bones, affordable, electric truck I can use to haul bikes around!
- waiseristy 4y agoYou'll be able to import one from China. American / European OEMs will not do this. Ever. You don't make money on "no-options" vehicles.
- dieselgate 4y agoFor real - an electric rabbit would be so so so cool Edit: it actually just looks like a Rivian.. oh well
- RickJWagner 4y agoIn the mid-80s I had a Scout from the mid 60s. It was the most basic vehicle you could imagine. Everything was operated manually. The roof would come off, if you unfastened about 6 bolts. I think it had about 4 instruments, including the gas gauge, which did not work. (I'd check the gas level by opening up the gas cap and rocking the vehicle to listen to the sloshing sounds.) Still, you could fix most anything with very basic tools. I wish VW good luck. They currently have a reputation for complicated, fragile vehicles so sort of the opposite of my old Scout. Maybe the change to an electric drivetrain will let them move closer to their spiritual ancestor.