[2-cb]

Gotta say this has me very intrigued

https://www.scoutevforum.com/forum/t...-videos.10919/

New SUV & Pickup under resurrected Scout brand that has both BEV and EREV (gas-powered range extender) models. The gas-powered range extended model seems like a good alternative to going full electric or PHEV? Wish more manufacturers would go with this instead of PHEV or full BEV.

[Murf the Surf]

Looks like a Bronco.

[Sedoy]

Let me guess - another EV manufacturer that wants to build EVs from scratch in the US, but needs a $8B plant, won’t make it on time, and when it finally does, the car will cost $95K instead of the promised $50K... I do like the modernized retro style

[chassis]

Styling looks good. Volkswagen engineering is pretty good. Let's see it with an EA888 Evo 4 engine from the Golf R.

[Ugly Kar]

Looks nice a the price is right. They even integrated the screens nicely into the dash instead of a tacky long ipad across the dash like BMW.

Obviously the big ? will be reliability.

[freakystyly]

Found some more technical stuff re:the solid axle drivetrain.. https://www.theautopian.com/i-crawle...-what-i-found/

Looks like it could potentially have some serious bump steer issues.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Found some more technical stuff re:the solid axle drivetrain.. https://www.theautopian.com/i-crawle...-what-i-found/

Looks like it could potentially have some serious bump steer issues.

Specifically what in your view could potentially lead to serious bump steer issues?

[freakystyly]

Lots of un-sprung weight bouncing around with the motor and transmission fastened to the through axle. The shocks will need to be well designed to keep things under control. I'm not a pro at suspension geometry but it looks to be better designed for off-roading vs on-roading. Then there's the whole skid plate thing, hopefully they reinforced the entire underside strong enough to prevent damage when offroading.

[dfox]

Originally Posted by Sedoy

Let me guess - another EV manufacturer that wants to build EVs from scratch in the US, but needs a $8B plant, won’t make it on time, and when it finally does, the car will cost $95K instead of the promised $50K... I do like the modernized retro style

Scout is owned by the VW group. Not vaporware.

[BlkGS]

I doubt they hit their price estimate of $60k, not without a hugely decontented model.

[gblansten]

I really doubt VW survives this transition to EV based vehicles over the next ten years.

[BlkGS]

I really doubt this "transition to EVs" idea survives 10 years.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

I really doubt this "transition to EVs" idea survives 10 years.

Regardless of how it plays out some manufacturers are already at major financial risk.

[Sedoy]

Originally Posted by dfox

Scout is owned by the VW group. Not vaporware.

It might be closer to vaporware than you think, VW plans to close three factories in Germany, cut more than $4.3 billion in costs, and lay off tons of people. The last thing they need now is another factory to build more EVs. Plus, tariff wars will cut off their access to cheap Chinese batteries and rare minerals.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a6...lant-closures/

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by gblansten

Regardless of how it plays out some manufacturers are already at major financial risk.

Agreed. I think we are going to see a couple of major automakers fail, and a lot of smaller ones fold as well.

I think Stellantis will be the first to fall, with Jeep and Ram being spun off. I could see Rivian failing afterwards but being parted out (VW will likely pick up their pieces). Lucid will shut down and fade into obscurity like Fisker. Mazda or Subaru I expect to fail. Mitsubishi will likely pull out of the US., if they even keep an auto division. GM I could see failing as well.

Almost all the automakers moved too quickly chasing what was always going to be a mirage. The market told them they needed to chase the margins Tesla had in 2015 without every recognizing why Tesla had the margins they had, and recognizing those margins would be short lived as competition came online.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Agreed. I think we are going to see a couple of major automakers fail, and a lot of smaller ones fold as well.

I think Stellantis will be the first to fall, with Jeep and Ram being spun off. I could see Rivian failing afterwards but being parted out (VW will likely pick up their pieces). Lucid will shut down and fade into obscurity like Fisker. Mazda or Subaru I expect to fail. Mitsubishi will likely pull out of the US., if they even keep an auto division. GM I could see failing as well.

Almost all the automakers moved too quickly chasing what was always going to be a mirage. The market told them they needed to chase the margins Tesla had in 2015 without every recognizing why Tesla had the margins they had, and recognizing those margins would be short lived as competition came online.

I agree with all of that and would add Nissan as particularly vulnerable.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by gblansten

I agree with all of that and would add Nissan as particularly vulnerable.

Nissan didn't really stretch themselves as far. They've almost totally lost their soul as a company, but they have an overall good mix of inexpensive people movers and acceptable family vehicles.

Nissan has 2 main vulnerabilities. They're selling the large majority of their vehicles to fleets and bad credit buyers..that's puts them at risk if there's a sharp economic downturn, somewhat mitigated by the value their vehicles bring for the pricing. Their other vulnerability is they don't have much of a hybrid presence, which may be necessary if the tide doesn't turn on it

Actually, their biggest vulnerability is their reliance on in house transmissions. We're they using ZF transmissions like many others, implementation of a hybrid or PHEV solution would be easy and quick, ZF sells it off the shelf. Using their own in house transmissions means they have to develop it all themselves.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

This is an interesting question. The Scout Motors factory broke ground in April 2024. The company is letting contracts to production equipment suppliers and ancillary facility subsystems as I post this. Scout just had the reveal this week. I would think if finances were that dire, VW would shut shut down the Scout project now before it gets more committed. Scout Motors is touted as a clean sheet American auto company startup that is free from legacy auto manufacture indirect cost burdens. I think the tie to VW AG is a lot more independent than any of us are considering.

It will be an interesting play out of events. I hope the company gears production more towards the range extender configurations because that is where the US EV market is headed. My opinion.

Big companies don't typically tighten their belts that way. If the shit hits the fan, thus just full stop things in an emergency move.

That said, I think a lot of what the issues at VW pertain to are high European labor costs, and a home market being flooded with Chinese product sold below cost to drive competition out of business.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Big companies don't typically tighten their belts that way. If the shit hits the fan, thus just full stop things in an emergency move.

That said, I think a lot of what the issues at VW pertain to are high European labor costs, and a home market being flooded with Chinese product sold below cost to drive competition out of business.

And a large drop in sales in the Chinese market. Also energy costs have hit them in Germany. It's a perfect storm of bad including their Audi and Porsche brands.

[Sedoy]

In addition to all that, don’t underestimate poorly thought-out policies trying to ban ICE vehicles by 20XX, forcing manufacturers to spend billions on EV R&D while increasing dependency on Chinese suppliers… Good job, Euro bureaucrats, a great way to kill one of the few industries you have left.

Originally Posted by gblansten

And a large drop in sales in the Chinese market. Also energy costs have hit them in Germany. It's a perfect storm of bad including their Audi and Porsche brands.

[ShocknAwe]

Would have been interested had they proposed an ICE. Looks nice. Otherwise nah.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Sedoy

Yep, in addition to all that, don’t underestimate poorly thought-out policies trying to ban ICE vehicles by 20XX, forcing manufacturers to spend billions on EV R&D while increasing dependency on Chinese suppliers… Good job, Euro bureaucrats, a great way to kill one of the few industries you have left.

It's a rough time to be VW.