Volkswagen plans to win America back with a pickup, report says

Based on Reuters’ report, nothing is finalized, so there are no concrete details at this point. We have no idea what size pickup VW is considering, how much it might cost, or even whether it will be gas- or electric-powered. A few possibilities suggest themselves, though. Firstly, VW could just start building the Amarok in the US. That’s a truck designed for South America, but Ford’s Ranger was designed in Australia for non-US markets, and it’s now on sale here, so that approach could work. That sure would be boring, though. For a more considered alternative, there’s Scout, the new VW Group brand for premium off-road-focused pickups and SUVs. In Michigan, Scout is designing vehicles to be built in South Carolina, using a body-on-frame platform with either battery electric or range-extended powertrains. Those are slated to arrive in 2028. If VW decides to enter the full-size segment and compete against Ford’s F-150 and the other heavy hitters, a body-on-frame platform would be necessary to get the performance that the market expects. Basing it on MEB is one way to go, but what if VW decided to license a platform from another automaker? Like Ford. In Europe, Ford does it the other way, borrowing the MEB platform to build electric Ford Capris and Ford Explorers. European Ford fans are as aghast at the misappropriation of the Capri name as ‘Merican Mustang fans were over the Mach-E’s moniker, but as a traveler from these shores, when I see one drive past in Spain, Germany, or the UK, I’m mostly just sad we don’t get them this side of the Atlantic Ocean. So what if VW licensed Ford’s new Universal Electric Vehicle platform? For the last few years, a small team has been working independently of the rest of Ford to develop a lower-cost EV architecture from scratch.