QOTD: Will Scout Get Off The Ground?
The launch of the Scout SUV and pickup truck seems to be delayed.
I have mixed feelings on this. I want to see Scout succeed, in part because it would be cool to see an iconic brand name fully resurrected, in part because the Traveler and Terra look cool, and in part because I generally want to see new car companies succeed -- that last bit means more jobs, more consumer choice, et cetera.
I don't want to be too alarmed -- it's tough for any startup to hit its deadlines, since building cars at scale is notoriously difficult. And Scout has Volkswagen's resources behind it.
On the other hand, perhaps Scout shouldn't be slipping if there is VW muscle available to help. And the EV market is a bit volatile right now due to political realities. Some of those realities are causing the market to shrink, but if gas prices continue to rise, well, maybe EVs become more attractive again. Of course, EV charging infrastructure, or lack thereof, is still a problem.
I say all this to ask you -- will Scout make it to market? Or will it, like so many other EV startups, fold? Or is there some third option I haven't thought of?
Sound off below.
[Image: Scout]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Most of their orders are for the hybrid, they should only build that one but they have to figure out how to get the volume. A VW truck with the same drivetrain will just steal sales from the Scout truck (and cost the same) and an Audi G-wagon based on it will cost more and sell even less, so I dont know they do it.
i see them as chasing two rabbits. ev or erev. pick one. all automakers should be making chassis with only one type of drivetrain in mind, bc u cant just simply swap them out, and u usually end up compromising one or the other in the process.