Volkswagen Group’s Scout Motors is considering a potential stock market listing or strategic asset sales, the CEO of the U.S. electric truck brand said in an interview with Germany business daily Handelsblatt.
Scott Keogh admitted that Scout is exploring new funding options and noted that the brand was designed from the outset to pursue a potential stock market listing or to allow strategic investors to take a stake.
Outside Capital “An Option That Is on the Table”: Scout CEO
Scout Motors
The executive noted that Scout was deliberately set up as a standalone entity, with outside capital seen as “an option that is on the table.” Keogh pointed to U.S. investment funds focused on what he called the country’s “industrial renaissance” as potential Scout investors; he didn’t name any such funds, though.
Volkswagen Group’s main goal with its new U.S. brand, which it resurrected after acquiring International Trucks’ parent company Navistar in 2021, is to increase its small U.S. market share by gaining a foothold in the high-volume and high-margin truck and SUV segment. However, there are growing internal doubts over the opportunity of launching a new electric unit at a time when EV demand is dwindling in the United States, Handelsblatt reported.
That said, Keogh has defended Scout’s bet on robust battery-powered trucks and SUVs like the Terra pickup and Traveler SUV, especially the gas-powered range-extender versions that were first announced in October 2024.
While they weren’t part of the original plan, they have attracted 87% of the total number of over 170,000 pre-orders as U.S. demand for hybrids has remained strong. Keogh also noted that the business case for Scout’s flexible platform may be greater than just Scout’s own pickup and SUV, with the executive adding that an Audi model built on the same architecture is a possibility.
Is VW Eyeing a Rivian-Like IPO?
As Automotive World points out, it looks like Volkswagen is taking a page from Tesla’s and Rivian’s book by taking Scout Motors public and pitching it as a high-valuation EV startup. Basically, VW may be trying to replicate the successful initial public offerings of Tesla and Rivian, which managed to achieve market capitalizations far higher than the actual value of their businesses at the time of the IPOs.
However, it remains to be seen if that’s a realistic target at a time when the U.S. EV market is in decline. Rivian’s IPO, for example, took place at the height of the EV boom in 2021, raising $11.8 billion for the company.
Additionally, by positioning Scout Motors as a separate unit, VW would be able to shield itself legally from the dealer franchise disputes stemming from the direct-to-consumer sales model adopted by the truck and SUV brand.
Scout is facing lawsuits in several U.S. states because of its plan to sell its products directly to consumers, bypassing VW’s traditional franchised dealership network.
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