This Fisker Ocean Manufacturer Is Rumored To Be Developing An Electric VW Scout SUV

Scout electric SUV design. (Doc. Volkswagen)

JAKARTA - In May 2022, the Volkswagen Group announced it would launch a tough all-electric pickup and SUV in the United States. The decision by the Board of Management at that time also said its vehicles would be designed, engineered, and manufactured in the US for American customers.

To achieve this goal, a separate independent company will be founded in the US along with Volkswagen Group moving the iconic US brand, Scout, into the electric vehicle sector.

But the latest news says the Volkswagen Group will hand over the development of the Scout electric SUV to Magna Steyr, a contract car manufacturing plant based in Graz, Austria.

Initially this news emerged from the Austrian newspaper, Kleine Zeitung, which was continued by Automotive News, which the German company said would use the Austrian company's engineering expertise to develop a new model for Scout, an independent subsidiary under Group VW.

VW reportedly awarded Magna Steyr a contract worth 450 million euros to develop an electric pickup and SUV. This order is the company's biggest development contract, as well as signaling that the Scout brand will not only be sold or based in America as previously planned by VW.

Scout plans to launch two new models by the end of 2026 - both will use the new platform Group VW, Scalable Systems Platform (SSP).

Meanwhile, Magna Steyr is not an arbitrary manufacturer in terms of electric car manufacturing because it has produced a promising latest competitor in the US electric car market, Fisker Ocean.

Magna Steyr also leads the development and production of electric Mercedes-Benz G-Classes. Other models produced by the company are Toyota GR Supra, BMW Z4, and Jaguar I-Face.

In a previous report, the VW Group has also invested $2 billion to build an assembly plant in South Carolina covering an area of 1,600 hectares.

Reporting from Carbuzz, November 26, for the Scout electric pickup truck if it is launched in the US, it will compete fiercely with Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV. Another rival who cannot be underestimated is the Tesla Cybertruck.