TEXT: Scott Keogh IMAGES: Scout Motors
’ve been in the automotive industry for almost 30 years, and it feels like every experience I’ve had over that time — whether it was related to sales and marketing, manufacturing operations, or innovation — has been leading up to one magical moment: the start-up and relaunch of an iconic American brand.
When you’re building something from scratch, every day is an adventure: a chance to have a profound impact and leave a lasting legacy. That’s because an automobile company is so much more than a product; it’s the center of a vast and dynamic network of suppliers, office and factory workers, and community members, as well as a touchstone for the dreams and aspirations of the owners who will bring that legacy to life.
What we’re building at Scout Motors is more than transportation; it’s a connection machine.
To me, Scout Motors represents America at its best. We’re designing and building something innovative, functional, and relevant by rolling up our sleeves with a can-do spirit. That spirit is embodied in the brand name itself. Scouts lead the way; they blaze new trails. They also venture forth and return with information that builds on our base of knowledge about the world and how things work. It’s a powerful calling that lives in every one of us; it’s part of our DNA, and it’s rooted in our rich heritage.
There are valuable lessons to be gleaned from the past. The nearly 45 years of technological progress since the last Scout rolled off the line in Fort Wayne, Indiana, enables us to build advanced features into our trucks and SUVs that our predecessors never could have imagined. At the same time, we have an opportunity to carry forward the best attributes of those vintage Scouts — from the design language to their capability and ruggedness to the tactile feel of the switches and controls — that made them the original do-anything, go-anywhere vehicles.
Our objective is to make something desirable for the thousands of enthusiasts, from farm to city, from coastal plains to the Rocky Mountains, who have remained loyal to this brand. Earning their respect is paramount; we’re humbled by the relationship they forged with this brand, and we are not so naïve as to believe that we know what they want more than they know what they want. They’ve kept the flame alive all these years, and their collective voice is always in my ear, and Chief Design Officer Chris Benjamin’s ear, keeping us honest.
"We’re designing and building something innovative, functional, and relevant by rolling up our sleeves with a can-do spirit."
There is a certain tension between the Scouts we have known and loved and the possibility of what a 21st-century version can be, and that tension feeds our spirit of innovation. We are not going to simply pick up exactly where Scout left off in 1980 with a continuation series or a restomod; that’s not what our customers want either. They want us to take the best of the old Scouts and marry it with advanced powertrain technology, modern safety equipment, and innovative software solutions to create a new benchmark.
Know this: we are not going to deliver a badge-engineered, jellybean-shaped soft-roader. There are already plenty of those available for people who don’t want or need the serious capability that only a vehicle purposefully designed from the ground up as an off-roader can deliver — that only a Scout can deliver.
We want to embrace some of the simplicity that Scout has always represented. We want to hang onto the intuitive, mechanical spirit that made these archetypical SUVs a companion as much as a conveyance. We are keeping things pragmatic, taking advantage of the technology only where it has a great application. That’s why we chose to build something body-on-frame, where you flip a switch to turn on the lights, rather than flipping through a menu on a screen.
But make no mistake: the technology will be there, efficiently and effectively deploying the monstrous torque from the electric motors in service of your next adventure, among other applications that we are eager to reveal during our October 24 event.
"Know this: we are not going to deliver a badge-engineered, jellybean-shaped soft-roader."
And that brings me back to this magical moment. You’ve been hearing us talk about this relaunch for awhile, but up until now, it has been largely theoretical. One of the things I love most about this business is that everything eventually has to move from the theoretical to the tangible. That time has come. Construction of an innovative manufacturing facility is well underway in Blythewood, South Carolina, which will soon create 4,000 permanent jobs and produce 200,000 vehicles a year. And on October 24th, 2024, we’ll reveal the new Scout in both pickup and SUV form — not as a sketch on a pad or a rendering in a PowerPoint presentation, but as a real truck, with unmistakable presence.
The first time I saw it in person, wearing the logo, was an emotional moment for me. My first thought was that it’s not just an idea anymore; it’s real, it’s powerful, it’s distinctly Scout. And my second thought? I can’t wait to share this experience with all of you — because I know you’re ready to stop dreaming and start doing.
