Scout Finalizes SUV And Pickup Design With Only A Few Subtle Changes
Attendees of the Los Angeles Auto Show can see them up close and in person
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by Stephen Rivers
Pre-production builds start in 2026 in South Carolina.
Prototypes closely match the final production design.
Range-extended and full-electric powertrains planned.
Scout Motors drew headlines last year for far more than just reviving a classic brand. It read the tea leaves and decided to launch with both an EV and an extended-range powertrain. Now, as production approaches, we’re getting a clearer view of the final design that customers will soon see in their driveways.
Spoiler alert: it’s almost a mirror image of the early promotional vehicles, apart from a few subtle design tweaks. Extensive testing, though, has been underway for months.
Read: Scout Motors Says Over 80% Of Buyers Picked A Surprising Powertrain
Cody Thacker, VP of commercial operations at Scout, told Autonews that the brand is “very quickly getting to something that looks and feels like real production vehicles,” as multiple generations of testers rack up miles across continents.
The brand already finished its first round of cold-weather testing in Sweden and is preparing for another bout of deep-freeze evaluation.
What Changed Over the Concepts?
Scout’s final design will swap the concept’s side-panel DRLs for a simpler stamped insert.
From a design standpoint, only a handful of alterations separate the early prototypes from the final shape. Chief design officer Chris Benjamin told the news outlet that while the prototypes’ elegant daytime running lights gracefully bleed into the metal of the front and rear quarter panels, that execution proved too intricate, too expensive, and too complex to stamp at scale.
So instead, the production version will use a “cool insert” that preserves the visual intent without breaking manufacturing budgets.
Under the skin, Scout still plans on both powertrain options, but it’s already benefiting from its initial plan. Since it didn’t commit solely to one or the other, it’s got the flexibility to delay EV production while market demand catches up.
In the meantime, it can build the EREV and sell it. Pre-production is set for late 2026 with customer deliveries in 2027. By that time, the EV market might have another uptick. Either way, Scout will have something to offer.
Built From Strong Partnerships
The platform itself benefits deeply from the VW/Rivian joint venture, leveraging Rivian’s electrical architecture as a base layer for Scout’s durability-focused hardware. Batteries, meanwhile, will come from VW Group’s in-house PowerCo network.
Scout is still publicly targeting a sub-$60,000 entry point, but final numbers will depend on material costs and powertrain mix. Also still undecided is whether the Traveler and Terra will launch simultaneously. As for when series production begins? Scout just says to “stay tuned.”
Source: AutoNews
