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

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The electric rebirth of Scout, the classic off-road SUV brand, is getting real this week as Volkswagen named Scott Keogh as CEO of its new spinoff company. The former head of VW Group America pushed for a new electric truck line after he saw a fully restored vintage Scout.

VW acquired the Scout brand through a 2020 merger of its commercial trucking company Traton with Navistar. In May, it was reported that VW Group is willing to pump $1 billion into the new Scout brand and set goals to sell a quarter million electric off-roaders per year.

Image: Volkswagen via Axios

All VW North American responsibilities were placed on the shoulders of the current South American VW head. Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess says in an interview that Scout is one piece of the puzzle and that it is time to focus more on the US market and the US customer. According to the report, the company plans to develop electric SUVs and pickup trucks as it tries to restore its reputation after the Dieselgate emissions scandal.

VW hopes that Scout will be the answer to double its 5 percent US market share of electric vehicles, but the automaker hit a roadblock this year after selling out of all its EV offerings. Scout built an off-road SUV to compete with Jeep in the 1960s and is now reborn as a company that can flourish separately from VW so it can try and go head to head with electric SUVs and trucks that remain a popular category.

It remains to be seen if Scout will follow in the footsteps of other SUVs with well-worn names like the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the new Chevy Blazer. The company is said to be working on vehicles that are good for camping, off-roading, or used for work, and that Ford's F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T electric pickup are top targets.