Confirmed: Volkswagen announces new Scout off-road brand

It’s official: The Volkswagen Group will launch a new ‘Scout’ electric off-road brand in the US, where all future Scouts EVs will be designed, engineered and sold.

As we reported yesterday, production of a bespoke electric “rugged SUV” (R-SUV) and a full-size pick-up is set to begin sometime in 2026, with the first prototypes expected to debut next year.

According to Volkswagen, the freshly formed Scout brand will help its parent company net a 10 per cent share of the lucrative North American market.

“Electrification provides a historic opportunity to enter the highly attractive pick-up and R-SUV segment as a Group, underscoring our ambition to become a relevant player in the US market,” said Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess.

Volkswagen AG CFO Arno Antlitz added that while Scout is yet another Volkswagen Group brand, it will be managed independently like brands such as Audi and Skoda.

“This aligns with the new Group steering model – small units that act agilely and have access to our tech platforms to leverage synergies,” he said.

Accompanying the announcement was an initial CG sketch of both the R-SUV and pick-up; each of them reminding us at least of the Rivian R1S electric SUV and R1T electric pick-up twins.

At this stage it appears unlikely either EV will be produced in right-hand drive or sold outside the US, but we’ll update this story if we hear otherwise.

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