One of the strongest trends of the 2020s is the rehabilitation of the 1970s. Lynda Carter is an icon again. America poured love on the Carters as we buried Rosalynn last November. The fight against inflation dominates the headlines. And the boxy, rugged, off-road SUV is back.
Even some of the classic names of Led Zeppelin-era SUVs are with us again. The Ford Bronco is back. The Jeep Wagoneer is back.
Soon, they’ll even share the road with Scouts again.
Volkswagen announced its intent to bring back the classic Scout Motors name in 2022. Now, we have a vague release date for its first products.
In a branding video posted to social media, Scout promises to reveal its first products this summer.
The video doesn’t give fans much to go on. The only Scouts pictured are models your grandfather might have driven.
But the brand teased a pair of models near the end of 2022, showing off sketches of a midsize SUV and pickup clearly designed with an eye toward approach and departure angles – that lingo off-roaders need to know.
From the start, the plan has been for the reborn Scouts to be all-electric. But they will have studied at the old school. Automotive News reports that, though they are electric vehicles (EVs), they’ll use a body-on-frame structure like old-fashioned pickup trucks. That design, which allows a vehicle to flex to keep all four wheels in contact with the ground over rough terrain, will set them apart from the more unibody-like designs of most current electric SUVs.
Scout CEO Scott Keogh, an industry veteran, says to expect a “large B SUV and then a full-size pickup.” B-segment is auto industry slang for a subcompact model, so a “large B” is still a relatively small vehicle. Scouts will be built in South Carolina, theoretically enabling them to cash in on the $7,500 federal EV tax credit if the company can obtain battery minerals from the right places.
The video is heavy on vibes and short on details, so that’s all we have to go on for now. But the vibe it shows is muddy, so we expect Scout to offer itself as a sort of electric Jeep competitor with a nostalgic appeal.
Where will they be sold? Keogh hasn’t said. “We have to have something to sell before we worry about how to sell it,” he explains. The company could try to break out a section of some VW dealerships to decorate with a dirt-road theme. Or it could go the dealerless route of Rivian and other all-electric rivals.
We expect to know more this summer. By which time, we hope, velour will be acceptable again, too.
