Scout won’t sell a single Terra pickup or Traveler SUV until late 2027, but they have 130,000 reservations on the books. Fully 80 percent of those are for the range-extender versions. Or, translated, this is called an EREV, which is a different kind of hybrid, where the gas engine only steps in to charge the battery; it doesn’t power the wheels. That’s done by electric motors running off the battery. But the news-y bit is that most buyers of these two vehicles—promised to sell for $60,000 or less—want the range-extender powertrain, not the full EV.
Available Models
Scout Motors
- Founded
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May 2022
- Founder
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Volkswagen Group
- Headquarters
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Detroit, Michigan
- Owned By
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Volkswagen Group
- Current CEO
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Scott Keough
In an exclusive call with Scout, I wanted to better understand how Scout will make that unique hybrid potion “sexy.” Also, how will Scout compete with peer upstarts, like Rivian? Finally, given the Americana of Scout heritage, that positions the reborn carmaker as more traditional, pitting them against Ford’s F-150 and Bronco, GMC’s Sierra, and pretty much the entirety of Jeep. In other words, they’re not playing in the same sandbox as Lucid, Rivian, or even Tesla’s Cybertruck.
That mainstream, more conservative buyer tends to hit the repeat button on what they snap up from the Big Three. If Scout’s going to win, they’ll need more than the sheen of a cool name—that most buyers under 50 don’t know ever existed. Here’s what Scout’s Ryan Decker, head of strategy and brand, shared, and why he thinks there’s plenty of room for Scout in the market.
Scout: America’s Charging Infrastructure Helped Demand For Terra, Traveler EREVs
Scout’s EVs got a gasoline range extender late in the game, and now they’re more popular than solely electric models.
To give you the most authoritative coverage, we went directly to Scout’s second hire, Ryan Decker, leader of the carmaker’s strategy and branding. We’ve also leaned on Scout for data. And we’re including information from statements Scout CEO, Scott Keogh, has made to other news outlets.
What Scout “Means”
My main source for this reporting is Scout’s Ryan Decker, head of strategy and branding. When I asked him straight up to distill what Scout means—and why it’s opportune for its rebirth to be happening now (technically in 2027) he named several critical factors.
Scout’s Telltales
- Scout still has a strong fan base — and even folks like Sean Barber at New Legend, who make their living off reviving old Scouts
- A drift towards “authentic” products, especially evident in the “workwear” trend among brands like Filson and Carhartt
- Re-engaging with the outdoors, post-COVID
- Moving out of big-urban areas and into suburbs and beyond
- Desire for digital “detox”
- Nostalgia for vehicles we can work on
In fact, not every aspect of what Decker’s identifying is new—or necessarily factual. The workwear trend and the Made In America trend have both been going strong in fashion for several decades. However, the post-COVID boom in escaping cities seems to have stalled, according to both Harvard and the Brookings Institute. If anything is correct here, it’s that housing is too expensive everywhere. Though what Decker is identifying in terms of vehicle trends and wanting more capability (whether it’s utilized or not) is clearly evident in the market. Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Ford… Basically, you cannot name a brand that isn’t selling a more rugged version of what’s essentially a family hauler.
Going Deeper
Still, Decker identified a few traits that are definitely unique to the market. A Honda Passport Trailsport isn’t a body-on-frame SUV. Nor, for that matter, is a Rivian R1S or R1T. They don’t get physically locking differentials, either. And Scout has promised all of that, and at least a foot of ground clearance. Decker says that when they met with loyal Scout fans back in 2022, when they first had only foam models and blueprints, they were listening very attentively to what those O.G. Scout flame-keepers wanted. What did they want? Body-on-frame, a solid rear-axle, off-road lockers, and legit capability.
“Check, check, and check. The first sort of bar to entry for us is, are we making a credible product, or are we making a poseur? And if we’re going to use the Scout brand, you can’t be a poseur. We wanted to be able to go into these legit, credible, off-road communities and say we’re for real.”
– Ryan Decker, Head of Scout Motors Strategy and Branding
The Fat Middle of The Market
Decker says that, unlike some peers, Scout hasn’t hedged on who they want to sell to. We don’t have to read between the lines, either. Decker is pretty plain-spoken.
“We deliberately built this company right in the core of the largest segments. We’re not going for a super-expensive product that only works along the coasts. We are going to be at the core of what is basically 70 percent of U.S. sales volumes, which is mid-sized SUVs and full-size pickup trucks.”
– Ryan Decker, Head of Scout Motors Strategy and Branding
A Truck Where The Volume Is
The interesting part of what Decker’s sharing is that the Terra pickup has a 5.5-foot bed that’s wide enough to swallow a 4 x 8-foot sheet of plywood—though it would stick out the back. The Terra is roughly the length of a current F-150 in that truck’s most popular size. Without saying this exactly, Decker’s aiming his arrows at Rivian, because the R1T only has a 4.5-foot bed. You might think this is a “miss” for Scout, by not going to a longer bed, but clearly the market has spoken. Short-ish-bed pickups with full-sized cabins are the meat of where customers buy.
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Measuring Authenticity
Part of what Decker shared with me had me experiencing déjà vu. When I met with Slate this summer, the maker of a far more petit truck and SUV that will be far cheaper than the Scout, their soon-to-be customers said something very similar to what Scout’s soon-to-be customers said. They want to work on the vehicle themselves. (Scout has promised that already.) And like Slate customers, they pleaded, “Please allow me to accessorize it. I want to be able to swap bumpers.” In addition, they want some of what Slate customers aren’t asking for, like up to 35-inch tires. And Decker explains, they also said, “I want it to get muddy. Don’t make it too precious.”
Analogue = Authentic
Decker says that the desire to wrench on their own rigs plays back into the “Americana” trend he flagged, as well as the workwear trend. But he also added that this is where physical controls will matter, such as oversized toggles and knobs, and part of how Scout will play the digital-detox card.
“We’ll have a very tactile, very physical interior experience. We don’t want someone to have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. We want you to literally touch it. This is not one big screen. This is not going to be a robo-taxi. This is a vehicle we want you to put your hands on.”
– Ryan Decker, Head of Scout Motors Strategy and Branding
And while there are digital aspects to Scouts, Decker says these will be “light touch,” which is very much playing to Scout’s at least, initial audience.
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EREV Is An Advantage—For Now
While Decker didn’t say so specifically, Scout has a major cost advantage with the EREV. Scout CEO Scott Keough articulated much of this to MotorTrend earlier this year.
- A single platform that can flex between full battery-electric and this form of hybrid
- One assembly line builds both
- It’s cheaper to have a smaller battery
- The four-cylinder “generator” motor doesn’t need the rev range of a traditional gas engine, or need the load capability
Decker added that customer demand for reservations has clearly shown that buyers see all these advantages, too, especially when it comes to 500 miles of combined range. Though he does say Scout will continue to have “nomenclature challenges” when it comes to the idea that the engine never drives their 4x4s’ wheels.
“The elegant way to describe what we’re doing is EV performance meets 500 miles of gasoline range. You get electric torque, and electric torque becomes electric acceleration. That’s how you get nearly 1,000 pound-feet of torque.”
– Ryan Decker, Head of Scout Motors Strategy and Branding
An EV For The Heartland
Decker says that offering the EREV has been especially game-changing for buyers in middle America. He says that as soon as buyers knew they’d have the option of not needing to publicly charge, and would have towing and range advantages, not to mention, off-roading advantages all fueled by the convenience of gasoline, Decker says the floodgates opened for a relevant product that would steal customers from traditional 4X4 brands (where there are more EV skeptics) and from existing EV buyers who want some of these capabilities.
“It was a light bulb moment, and we could see it in the reservation holders. Scout is a 50-state brand. We are seeing success in what I would call more Heartland places, way more so than we would have expected if we were going only EV.”
– Ryan Decker, Head of Scout Motors Strategy and Branding
Rivian Is A Pro — Volkswagen Helps
There’s some natural sibling rivalry between Scout and Rivian. Decker repeatedly emphasized that although Volkswagen owns Scout, the company operates independently. However, Rivian is poised to become the digital backbone for the entire Volkswagen Group, powering the digital aspect of every car from Lamborghinis and Bentleys to Golfs. So there will be a little Rivian in every Scout—and every Volkswagen.
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A Century Of Industry Insight
Speaking of VW, although Scout will build all their vehicles on a line in South Carolina, with something like 80-85-percent region/domestically sourced suppliers, Decker explains that through the Volkswagen Group, Scout has had a major advantage vs. a startup like a Rivian—or, a decade ago, Tesla. It gave Scout a massive knowledge base on how to scale up a factory, and who to talk to in the industry and supplier chain. Not to mention, he says, that customers—whether that’s a supplier or a reservation holder—can trust that this isn’t a fly-by-night operation. “It’s a definite structural advantage. And we get to leverage those advantages to ensure that we’re delivering the best products and services for our customers,” Decker explains.
TopSpeed’s Take
You may have noticed that Scout isn’t on the market yet. And that a $60,000 SUV or pickup isn’t cheap. The carmaker wants to sell 200,000 Scouts per year, which means, oh, Jeep, Ford’s F-Series and Bronco, plus Ram, and possibly 4Runner and Tacoma sales would all have to shrink. That’s no small change in who sells what—and you can bet those rivals aren’t waiting for Scout to steal their lunch money.
The Audi Answer
Meanwhile, Audi is studying the idea of using Scout’s manufacturing capacity to make a new, body-on-frame model of its own. According to reporting by Automotive News, Audi is mulling a Defender or Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen rival. This also enables Scout to do something else—expand its range. As much as Decker argues that they’re starting life in the top-selling segments of full-sized truck and SUV, tastes change. And living at a premium price that starts at $60,000 provides zero ladder up for future consumers for whom that’s just too expensive. Claiming that you have a 50-state brand is fine. But once all of those hand-raisers have their Scouts, what are you going to do for an encore? Scout, just like Slate, has to be thinking about this now, and cost-sharing with Audi provides the potential for riffing in other, more affordable directions.
Source: Scout, Automotive News, Bloomberg.