Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung reported that Scout Motors has awarded Magna a contract worth €450 million to develop an electric SUV and pickup truck. The report said development work at Magna in Graz and the US was underway to prepare for series production by late 2026.

In March 2023, Scout Motors, the recently formed independent company backed by Volkswagen Group (earlier post), announced it would invest $2 billion to build its first plant in the US in South Carolina. At full capacity, more than 200,000 Scout vehicles may be produced annually at the facility.

When the Volkswagen Group announced the Scout plans in 2022, it said that the electrified Scout brand would be built upon a new technical platform concept which brings new pickup and RUV credibility beyond the existing Volkswagen Group portfolio. (Earlier post.)

Scott Keogh, the former head of VW and Audi in North America, is the Scout CEO. The company announced in August that Dr. Jan Spies will join the company as Chief Production Officer, effective early 2024. In this role, Spies will lead manufacturing of Scout Motors’ all-purpose, all-electric truck and SUV, slated for production by the end of 2026, and oversee the launch of its new manufacturing facility in South Carolina.

Spies currently serves as Head of Planning and Production Technology for Volkswagen AG, a position he has held since 2019, and has previously held multiple other production leadership roles. He holds a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Spies’ track record of developing multiple flagship projects includes the Volkswagen Group of America’s manufacturing campus in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which opened in 2011 and now produces more than 250,000 vehicles per year.