Automakers bring back names and brands from the past all the time, but it’s not every day that a major company purchases a brand name specifically for the purpose of reviving it. That’s exactly what Volkswagen just did with Scout, the name of an ultra-popular off-road SUV that was built by International Harvester in the 1960s and 1970s.
As for the types of vehicles we’ll see from the brand, we currently only have the renders to go on. The pickup truck and SUV both feature throwback styling that is reminiscent of the original Scout shapes. Beefy off-road tires and lifted suspension are the only other clues available in the drawings.
Volkswagen has its own EVs, and its other brands like Audi and Porsche have made significant progress with electric vehicles as well. That said, VW doesn’t really have a solid off-road option from any of its brands at the moment, so the Scout purchase opens doors for the automaker in that arena.
The announcement sounds exciting, but we’ve still got plenty of time to wait before there’s a Scout-branded EV on the roads. Volkswagen said the plan is to release vehicles by 2026, but it won’t be sitting idle between now and then. The VW ID.4 is still very fresh and the automaker says it will launch a total of 25 new EVs in the U.S. by 2030.
