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Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

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Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#81

Post by greedo »

browningstreet wrote: post #25
orangepurple wrote: post #15

I have heard that VW suffers in the USA because of extremely poor and predatory dealership experiences

I bought VWs & Audis in 3 states and had no issues. I also had zero problems with any of my cars... including A6s and my last VW product was a VW CC. But after that, the cars were always out of step with what they were competing with. VW started making "VWs cars for Americans in America", like the Atlas. I bought a Highlander because the Atlas was bigger than I wanted, had less tech (at the beginning, not true at the…

I love my VW CC (2013) when it runs, but geez I've had engine trouble, the faulty suspension that leads to tire cupping drives me nuts, and the VW dealer in my town sucks. I swore off VW a few years ago, but the new VW bus replacement might make me change my mind.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#82

Post by dieselgate »

EricE wrote: post #42
EricE wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Ranger have tail gates that will partially lower to the same level as the tops of the wheel wells, providing a perfect platform for 4x8 sheets of plywood. I have a friend with a Ranger and we have hauled plywood and other larger objects with no issues. Would I want to do it routinely? Probably not - but for casual hauling they work well enough. I would expect the Scout to be desig…

And if you are as frustrated by the lack of true mini-pickups as I am, search the 'net and read about the chicken tax. Which was aimed at locking VW out of the US market quite a while ago, has lingered on way past it's prime and has bit even American manufacturers in the butt as more manufacturing has shifted outside of the US. Gotta love unintended consequences - ha!

Ya it’s insane and unfortunate how the chicken tax wrecked trucks. Was it really directed towards VW though? I thought it was more against Japanese auto makes.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#83

Post by dieselgate »

mulmen wrote: post #19
zactato wrote: post #6

I hope this ends up being smaller than the F150. I get the popularity of that form factor, but I simply don't believe that many people are hauling yards of soil or towing boats. 2 Seats + 6 Foot bed seems like a winning combination in practicality, but is quite rare in the US.

> hauling yards of soil or towing boats I'm not defending the number of pickups on the road in America but this is an out of touch comment. Some common uses of pickup beds include: * Hauling motorcycles and ATVs including snowmobiles. * Carrying campers. * Carrying home improvement projects such as bags of soil, plants, and raw material such as 8'x2"x4" lumber or 4'x8' plywood. At least in the 2000s a 4x8 sheet of pl…

I presume the availability of 4x4 helps with trucks as well? Does for me at least

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#84

Post by jandrese »

jaredhallen wrote: post #72
jandrese wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pickup trucks aren't for carrying a family around. The whole point is to have a large open cargo space for building materials, equipment, etc... If you want to haul a family use a sedan or minivan. Those back seats in crew cabs are always cramped and uncomfortable anyway. They are a terrible tradeoff, and yet the entire automotive industry has gone all in on them.

What if you need to haul things while simultaneously carrying a family around? I don't find them to be a terrible tradeoff at all, and I expect that the reason the entire automotive industry has gone all in on them is because I'm not an outlier in that regard.

Get an ute then?

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#85

Post by WorldMaker »

lbwtaylor wrote: post #61
orangepurple wrote: post #15

I have heard that VW suffers in the USA because of extremely poor and predatory dealership experiences

It's an interesting comment. Some believe that VW will make Scouts a direct to consumer brand, like Tesla, rather than part of the VW dealer (or any) network. I try to avoid VW brands because of dieselgate - don't want to support them after that.

Maybe they'll run it like Geely/Volvo Auto has been running Polestar? Polestar today is direct to consumer with a handful of showrooms like Tesla, but with a support contract with Volvo Auto dealerships. (My biggest complaint with Polestar is that there aren't yet enough showrooms in the US and I wish I could test drive one at my local Volvo dealership, because would really like to test drive the Polestar 2 and don't want to drive 9-12 hours to do it.)

As for dieselgate, for what it is worth VW seems to be going above and beyond in restitution. They made a larger voluntary factory recall than any of the car manufacturers that have since been caught with minor dieselgate scandals. They've invested more into Electrify America than just the US EPA mandated "fines". They've been seeming to follow through on their promises to aggressively electrify their entire fleet in a very short time window/turnaround. (They claim they will not sell any non-EV starting with the 2025 model year, next year. They seem on track to maybe hit that, with some question marks around some US only models remaining.) It's dumb that it took a scandal like dieselgate to push VW to turning the ship so hard, but they actually might be turning the ship.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#86

Post by itsoktocry »

zactato wrote: post #6

I hope this ends up being smaller than the F150. I get the popularity of that form factor, but I simply don't believe that many people are hauling yards of soil or towing boats. 2 Seats + 6 Foot bed seems like a winning combination in practicality, but is quite rare in the US.

>2 Seats + 6 Foot bed seems like a winning combination in practicality, but is quite rare in the US.

I'd argue that it seems the exact opposite. People aren't buying $50,000+ 4-door 4x4 trucks because Ford is forcing that on them, they are demanding it. And 2 seats are nowhere near optimal practicality.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#87

Post by WorldMaker »

balls187 wrote: post #37

> Despite its global standing as the world's second-largest carmaker, Volkswagen is a chronic underachiever in the United States. There is a large community of VW enthusiasts in the US, and yet that market is never treated as anything other than an afterthought by VW. Despite being 2nd generation VW owner (my dad drove an original beetle, and my first and second vehicles were both Golfs), my next vehicle will be a Fo…

I still think it was a massive mistake that VW skipped selling the ID.3 to focus on the ID.4 in the US, assuming all Americans would prefer the SUV-like ID.4. The ID.3 is the true EV successor [0] of the Golf and every American fan of VW that I know loves the Golf and had one or two of them. (I'd consider the ID.3. I don't want an ID.4.)

[0] For a few years they made an "e-Golf" that was batteries badly fit into an unmodified Golf frame. The ID.3 is bespoke EV on the shared MEB architecture.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#88

Post by jerlam »

yread wrote: post #69
bluGill wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Even once is not never, because nothing else will do that job. Note too that there people who use their bed but never tow, the fact that a truck could serve either purpose but for some only does one doesn't mean that those people don't use a truck.

Or you could just drive a much smaller cheaper and easier to park car most of the year and rent a truck once a year when you need it

In the suburbs, there is no penalty for owning a large vehicle.

Even if it doesn't fit in your garage (because it's full of cars/stuff), you can park in your driveway. No one will complain if you block the sidewalk, because no one walks anywhere.

Shopping areas have large parking areas and structures. It is not unusual to see pickup trucks taking up more than two spaces. Parallel parking is uncommon and usually can be avoided.

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#89

Post by dieselgate »

drewg123 wrote: post #67

My family bought a diesel IH Scout in the 70s. Its probably the worst car I've ever ridden in. 0-60 in an afternoon with a tailwind, horrible suspension, noisy, etc. It was replaced by an early 80s Jeep Cherokee, which was a huge upgrade. So Scout isn't something I'm super nostalgic about..

This made me chuckle, you have a point. Diesels are much much better to drive when turbo charged - I wasn’t alive in the 70s but am curious what the expectations were for passenger vehicles made by a tractor company, it was presumably a “tank” though

Re: Volkswagen bringing back Scout brand truck as electric vehicle made in America

#90

Post by dieselgate »

kurthr wrote: post #12
actionablefiber wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the sense that the pickup truck market in the U.S. particularly in suburbs is driven by brand marketing rather than consumer needs. People are paying a premium, in the cost of purchasing as well as in the cost of insuring, maintaining, and fueling, for the image of the rugged individualistic American ready for any terrain, weather, or load that needs hauling, and maximally armored to "win" should they ever hit…

The giant king cab luxury seating is the only thing available on the larger and more expensive models unless you have access to fleet purchasing. They definitely have a market and they've tuned product lines for it. There are even supersport models. Personally, I hate the short-beds cuz you can't easily transport lumber or plywood sheets.

I’ve been curious with the functionality of short beds - the only advantage I can think of is a shorter wheel base for towing/maneuvering a trailer. Otherwise they make no sense to me
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