Since 2020, fans have been clamoring for the return of the Scout brand, and in September last year, rumors started doing the rounds claiming that Volkswagen would be the one to do it. The German automaker has the ownership rights to the brand, albeit indirectly. See, Volkswagen owns Traton, which is a conglomerate of the MAN, Scania, and Navistar brands. Navistar, as our older readers may remember, was founded in 1986 as a successor to the International Harvester automaker that created the original Scout SUV. Now that you know how Volkswagen has ties to the Scout name, the rumors that started recirculating this week make sense, and now we can confirm that they were accurate.

Volkswagen today announced that it will form a new independent company to design, engineer, and manufacture a pickup and rugged SUV (R-SUV/RUV) for the American market. VW CEO Herbert Diess, says, "Electrification provides a historic opportunity to now enter the highly attractive pickup and R-SUV segment as a Group, underscoring our ambition to become a relevant player in the US market."

VW has begun to assert itself as a serious player in the EV space with vehicles like the Volkswagen ID.4, so now is the perfect time to use that positive momentum to introduce something new. Diess explains: "After Volkswagen's successful turnaround in the US, we are now taking the opportunity to further strengthen our position in one of the most significant growth markets for EVs." Success in this market "is a key lever to increasing profitability in the US and achieving the targeted market share of 10%," says the automaker.

Naturally, the new company that will be founded to create the new Scout off-roading EVs will have access to Volkswagen's tech platforms and will be able to "leverage synergies," meaning that it will not develop much from scratch but will rather adapt existing technologies and ideas. That said, the new platform promises even more "pickup and RUV credibility beyond the existing Volkswagen Group portfolio."

Volkswagen says that we will see the first prototypes next year, with production scheduled to begin in 2026. Still in the early stages of design, teaser sketches suggest body shapes not unlike those of the Rivian R1T and R1S. However, we suspect the Scout offerings will be more affordable. We could be wrong, but more details will come to light soon enough.