Editor’s Note: This week, Peter takes on the latest absurdity in premature EV vaporware with VW’s new offshoot “Scout Motors” brand, which is basically a way for the company to enter the truck and SUV market minus the VW baggage (or so they think). In “On The Table,” we take another look at the new 2025 Audi RS Q8, which Audi calls “the most powerful production combustion Audi Sport model ever” (even though it’s not a new sports car but an SUV). And our AE Song of the Week is the enduring classic “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles. In “Fumes,” after Peter’s “The Racing Machines” series he’s starting a new series with his all-time favorite racing machines – Jim Hall’s Chaparrals. And in “The Line,” we’ll have F1 results from the Mexican Grand Prix and MotoGP from Thailand. Onward! -WG
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Longtime readers of this website are very familiar with the drill by now. A manufacturer summons the automotive media – or what passes for it these days (including the various hangers-on, analysts, and fanboys and girls, etc.) – flies them to a location not their own and regales them about its upcoming Belchfire EV in SUV or truck guise. Not only will these new vehicles rewrite the history books, but they are promised to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, at least in automotive terms.
Then the assembled media-types – who run the gamut from credible to barely tolerable – dutifully report what said manufacturer wants them to say. The new vehicles will be new and good and better than most. They will “redefine the market.” They will be immediate “forces to be reckoned with” in their segments. And, they will be eminently successful – I mean, how could they not be?
I and we have heard this all before. Over and over and over again. It’s like we’re on a doom loop of over-promising, and if things don’t work out, oh well, it’s on to the next big thing.
What company am I talking about this time? Volkswagen’s new offshoot “Scout Motors” brand. Thinly based on the heritage of the long ago – and defunct – International Harvester brand, this is VW’s foray into the truck and SUV market minus the baggage that the VW name brings to these segments, meaning it has no credibility, so this will allow it to play in the hottest segments with a clean slate. At least that’s the idea.
And Scout Motors operatives said all the right things when they showed the “production concepts” of the all-electric Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Traveler pickup truck to the media in Nashville. Designed and engineered right here in Michigan and slated to be assembled in Columbia, South Carolina, the two new products with body-on-frame architecture are aimed to hit dealerships at around $60,000.00 with a 350-mile range for both, and in a significant hedge, a range-extending feature called “Harvester,” which uses ICE assist to deliver an estimated 500-mile range, will be available.
Let’s stop the proceedings right here. 2027? You have to be frickin’ kidding me. I can safely say that that isn’t enough time, and there isn’t enough money to build a brand from scratch. And make no mistake, despite the old International Harvester throwback names, we’re definitely talking from scratch here. VW is said to be on the hook to the tune of $3 Billion for this quixotic quest. Let me set the record straight right here – that rumored investment is laughable. We’re easily talking $4 Billion, if not more. Serious dough-re-me, folks. That’s just what this kind of product launch costs.
Needless to say, I don’t attach the word “brilliant” to this market foray by VW just for showing up. Are the new products going to be good? Who the hell knows? They look good and boast all of the right accoutrements – at least on paper – but that means exactly zero at this juncture. I expected more from the journalists and analysts assembled in Nashville to see these products, but then again, why should I? It’s called “rote regurgitation” of the info presented, and there wasn’t a critical perspective to be had anywhere. It’s disappointing and pathetic.
Back to that 2027 launch date. I get why Scout Motors operatives wanted to show off their dream scrolling, because they’re under intense pressure to show something, but this really doesn’t move the needle to the substantive zone. At all. It just shows that they’re present and accounted for, at best. And that just isn’t enough. Especially when the plan is to sell Scouts directly to customers, cutting the VW dealers out of the loop completely. (As you might imagine, VW dealers are taking legal steps to counter that decision. Good luck with that, by the way.)
I will be shocked if we see Scouts roll out of the assemble facility in 2027, and if they do, it will be a handful of vehicles on December 31, 2027, just to say they met the target. Realistically, we’re talking 2028 here, and what the market will look like for EVs then is anyone’s wild-ass guess at this point. This whole thing is just a giant “we’ll see,” as we like to say around here.
On paper, the Scouts should be pretty good. But that’s on paper. That seems to be enough for some analysts and journalists – I mean, it was a slow day in October – but it isn’t even remotely close to being enough for me.
“On paper” sounds a lot like glorified vaporware to me. And ladies and gentlemen, if that floats your boat, good night and good luck.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
(Scout Motors)
(Scout Motors)
(Scout Motors)
Editor’s Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on “Next 1 Entries” below. – WG