Summary
- Volkswagen’s Scout Motors revival reveals the all-electric Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck as spiritual successors to original International Harvester models.
- The Terra and Traveler are designed in-house with cutting-edge tech and maintain the original Scout’s reputation for off-road capability and durability.
- Both models are set to be built entirely in the U.S., creating thousands of jobs, with pricing expected below $60,000.
On a picture-perfect evening in Franklin, Tennessee, Scout Motors revealed its first new production-intended concepts following its revival by Volkswagen AG in 2021, the all-new, all-electric Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck. Revived and built as spiritual and direct successors to the original International Scout trucks and SUVs from the 1960s through the 1970s, the new Scout Motors models emerged to revive the heritage of the original models, before the company ended production in 1980 and International Harvester went defunct in 1985, only to be rebranded as Navistar.
Back in 2021, Volkswagen AG acquired the rights to the Scout brand after purchasing the Navistar Group (International Motors) outright a year before and incorporating it into the company’s heavy-duty and commercial vehicle division, Traton, formerly Volkswagen Truck & Bus AG. And since then, the company aspired and planned to revive the iconic truck models and resuscitate a once well-known and revered American icon.
Known originally as the International Harvester Scout, arguably one of the world’s first sports utility vehicles geared towards off-road adventuring and truck-based family transport, the Scout left behind a legacy that once helped symbolize mobility and the freedom to explore and since then, fans and those with sentimental connections only dreamed of its revival. But now, it’s finally happened, with these two near-production-ready concepts…