Top 5 Contenders to Buy Scout Motors

I recently reported on Volkswagen’s financial woes, with leadership threatening to throw ballast overboard. Scout Motors is not set to sell its first vehicle for another year and could be considered ballast for the troubled German automaker.

What Brands Could Purchase Scout Motors?

Scout is in the final stages of building its production facility in South Carolina. The corporate headquarters in North Carolina is filling up with talented leadership. Volkswagen has invested nearly half a billion dollars into Scout, and the brand claims to have 130,000 refundable $100 deposits on future products. Clearly, the brand has generated interest in the eyes of the consumer, but it has been a financial drain on parent VW up to this point. 

Scout Motors is on the brink of selling its first vehicle in just over a year and could be an enticing automotive asset to the right company with the deep pockets, patience, and interest in this heritage-based and future-forward off-road brand. But if Volkswagen were to sell Scout, who would be interested?

Obvious Non-starter: Stellantis

The brand is facing its own challenges in moving electrified products. Massive recalls on all Jeep 4xe models, stagnant sales of Jeep Wrangler S and Dodge Charger, and the fact that the Wrangler exists mean that Stellantis is clearly not in the running to buy an EV-first vehicle platform and company.

Obvious Non-starter: Nissan

Nissan is clawing its way back into relevance by teasing a body-on-frame Pathfinder replacement as well as a sub-$30k Xterra return. The Japanese automaker should clearly focus on these two promises before spending capital in additional areas.

5. Ford Motor Company

Ford is no stranger to the midsize off-road vehicle market. The return of the Bronco nameplate has the Wrangler shaking in its trail-rated tracks. The Ranger pickup truck, on which the Bronco is based, is seeing success and wide appeal as well, with publisher Tim spending his own money on one for his family.

However, it would be a strange business move for Ford to invest in what is essentially a direct competitor to its newest cash cows. Scout could do well with the leadership of the Bronco team, which took the additional step of teaching its customers how to properly use their vehicles through their ever-expanding Off-Roadeo program.

4. General Motors

What Chevy or GMC fan has not longed for a proper K5 Blazer or Jimmy replacement? Bowtie faithful have been watching Jeep and Ford duke it out off-road with the Wrangler and Bronco for the better part of this decade, with no real dog in the fight. Not to mention the fact that GM is also missing from the high-performance pickup truck fight with no Raptor R or RHO competitor. 

It seems that GM was so heavily invested in moving its Ultium EV platform forward, they were caught with their pants down in the real automotive fight of the 2020s. Chevy seems to be testing a Silverado competitor to the aforementioned trucks with its 2027 model year, but we have seen nothing in the midsize space.

The Colorado does have the competent ZR2 and ZR2 Bison trims, but there is not a direct competitor to the Bronco and Wrangler on the company’s radar, per my sources in the know. Purchasing Scout could be a quick way to join the fray, but with the Ultium EV investment starting to prove more costly with slowing EV sales, I believe the brand will focus more on recouping its brand image and cash flow in other ways.

3. Geely

You most likely already know several products from the Chinese parent company Geely, which itself is a privately owned company. Brands under the Geely umbrella include popular legacy brands like Volvo, Lotus, and Smart, as well as new EV brand Polestar.

We keep hearing of the Chinese overtaking of the US auto industry; the purchase of Scout could be yet another foothold into US sales for the conglomerate. However, Scout’s heritage stateside and the brand’s intense focus on off-roading could be outside of the brand’s current scope. Everyone wants a competent off-road vehicle and program, but as Ford proved with the Off-Roadeo program, the investment is a large one outside of just producing the vehicles. 

2. Toyota

Could the world’s largest automotive company be the savior of Scout in the midst of VW’s financial woes? Toyota clearly knows and fully understands the off-road community worldwide with iconic nameplates like Land Cruiser, HiLux, and Tacoma, to name a few.

The brand is even venturing into electrified off-roading with the hybrid variant of the Tacoma and the new HiLux offering a full EV model. Clearly, Toyota is not afraid of the formula that Scout is building with their EV and hybrid architecture. 

However, Toyota is in the midst of launching a new luxury brand called Century, set to combat Rolls-Royce and Bentley, taking the automaker out of financial footing to invest even more into Scout at this time.

1. Hyundai

Hyundai has been on a roll lately. The three brands under the Hyundai Motor Group umbrella are Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. With these three brands, HMG CEO Jose Munoz claims to have overtaken the massive Volkswagen Auto Group as the world’s second-largest automaker. Buying Scout would be another feather in the cap of the growing South Korean automaker, as it has been on a sales success story for several years running.

The current corporate structure of the three brands appears to be a winning formula. Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis share platforms and engineers, but the teams leading the brands are in a fierce sales competition with each other, Genesis notwithstanding. Just take a look at the 2026 Hyundai Palisade versus the 2027 Kia Telluride; both ride on the same platform but took drastically different approaches to the large 3-row SUV. This is a company that knows how to best leverage its engineers and brands to do “badge-engineering” the right way. Share platforms and parts where needed, and let the brands differentiate and stand on their own with the final product. Clearly not the 1990s GM approach of slapping a different grille and logo on a Tahoe and calling it a Cadillac.

I believe the business approach would work, bringing in a stand-alone brand like Scout into the fray. HMG EV technology is some of the best in the business, with several small internal combustion engines that could serve as EV generators. All three HMG brands are showing they want to play in the off-road space with the Hyundai Crater XRT concept from the LA Auto Show, XRT Pro trim on the new Palisade, X-Pro trim on the Telluride, and Genesis’ X Gran Equator. Scout would be a natural fit. It also does not hurt that the brand appears to be flush with cash and on a winning streak that would make Vegas casino owners nervous.