The 2 electrical autos, an SUV and a pickup truck, might be developed by Magna in Graz. The Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung broke the information and mentioned growth work at Magna in Graz and the USA was in “full swing” to organize for collection manufacturing by late 2026.
Earlier talks dubbed Magna as a Scout manufacturing companion, however Volkswagen introduced in March that it could construct its plant within the USA for this goal. This plant might be unique to Scout, though there was hypothesis a couple of joint plant with Audi. Kleine Zeitung additionally named Audi the “know-how provider for the mission”. Precisely what know-how the VW model firm could contribute and the way this might be coordinated with Magna stays to be seen.
The ties between the businesses attain far again, in any case. Because the paper factors out, Volkswagen commissioned the Austrian firm to develop the VW Golf Nation 30 years in the past. Later, the specialists at Magna-Steyr developed the Audi TT for manufacturing readiness. Furthermore, Magna has an electrical automobile platform utilised by the Fisker Ocean, amongst others. The producer additionally constructed half one million Mercedes G-Class automobiles – which is able to quickly see electrification as EQG.
Again to at present, not a lot is thought in regards to the new fashions for Scout. Volkswagen launched solely literal sketches. Important technological information on the drives or the battery have but to emerge, and Scout confirmed a devoted EV platform. In its report, Kleine Zeitung said a variety of about 400 miles (640 km).
In 2020, Volkswagen purchased the industrial automobile producer Navistar, which most lately held the rights to the Scout model. These initially belonged to the agricultural equipment producer Worldwide Harvester, which constructed off-road autos within the US between 1960 and 1980. The Scout was a two-door off-road automobile constructed between 1961 and 1980.
In any communications, Scout emphasises that it’s an “unbiased US firm with the help of the Volkswagen Group” – primarily by way of its administration. Scott Keogh serves as Scout CEO after heading VW and Audi in North America for years. The corporate additionally lately appointed Jan Spies as Chief Manufacturing Officer of Scout Motors from the start of 2024, overseeing the manufacturing of the electrical pickup truck and SUV. He comes from Volkswagen’s mega plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which opened in 2011 and now produces greater than 250,000 autos a 12 months.
The Scout plant in South Carolina will price Volkswagen about two billion {dollars}. In March 2023, the South Carolina Home accepted a $1.3 billion package deal for the brand new electrical automobile plant. VW added that it plans to rent round 4,000 staff on the website close to the state’s capital, Columbia.
kleinezeitung.at (in German)