Volkswagen names a new CEO to drive its electric truck and SUV spinoff Scout

The electric rebirth of classic off-road SUV brand Scout is getting real this week as Volkswagen named Scott Keogh as CEO of its new spinoff company. Former head of VW Group America, as initially reported axiosSeeing a fully restored vintage Scout inspired VW to launch a new electric truck line: “The rights to the brand were just sitting there,” Keogh said.

VW acquired the Scout brand through the 2020 merger of its commercial trucking company Traton with Navistar, which the German automaker initially bought in 2016. In May, it was reported that the VW Group was set to pump $1 billion into the new Scout brand and set a goal of selling a quarter million electric off-roaders under the name annually starting in 2026.

Keogh is now leading Scout, Volkswagen’s board of management in Chattanooga, Tennessee, placing all VW North American responsibilities on current South American VW chief Pablo Di Cie. “Now is the time to focus more on the US market and the US customer, and one piece of the puzzle is definitely the scout,” said Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess. axios in an interview. Per the report, the company said it will develop “True American” electric SUVs and pickup trucks, as it attempts to restore a reputation tainted by the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal.

VW hopes the Scout will be the answer for electric vehicles doubling its 5 percent US market share; The automaker hit a roadblock this year after including all its EV offerings – the ID.4 and the Audi e-tron – for 2022. In its past life, Scout built an off-road SUV to compete with Jeep in the 1960s and is now reborn as a company that could (and probably will) flourish separately from VW. itself) so it could try to go head-to-head with electric SUVs and trucks that remain a popular category in the US.

It remains to be seen whether Scout will design boxy retro-looking SUVs like the indefinitely-delayed Bollinger B1/B2 and Hummer EV or if it will replace other midsize and compact SUVs with well-worn nameplates like the Ford Mustang Mach. Trends will follow-e and the new Chevy Blazer. One thing’s for sure: the company is working on vehicles that are meant to be used for camping, off-roading, or work—a clear sign that Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T electric pickups top goals.