Volkswagen plans to choose a place in the U.S. to build its proposed Scout electric trucks and SUVs this year.
Volkswagen already announced earlier this month that it plans to relaunch its iconic Scout as an electric vehicle. The automaker targets the U.S. market and is now reportedly looking for a site in the United States to build its factory.
This year, the German automaker plans to decide where in the U.S. it will make its proposed Scout brand. Volkswagen CEO Herbert Deiss was quoted in a Reuters report saying that the company is looking at “brownfield sites and some greenfield locations.” These are terms for factories that are already built and empty fields where new factories could be made.
Diess and other executives said that Volkswagen’s Scout is part of a larger plan to grow its presence in the U.S. market, not just for cars but also for trucks and vans.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Volkswagen’s Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said that the company doesn’t rule out putting the Scout brand on the stock market in the future but added that it is too early to discuss that right now.
Additionally, Deiss also expects to gain more profits from electric vehicles soon. The automaker expected its profit margins for electric cars to match combustion-engine vehicles in earlier reports.
Deiss stated: “We expect that the e-mobility business will be as profitable as the combustion-engine business earlier than planned,” during its annual shareholder meeting earlier this month.
“Through good crisis management, we are financially robust and have strengthened our resilience,”
Automakers currently face issues with supplies and chip shortages. Deiss also expressed his concerns warning there may be dire consequences not only for the sector but for Europe’s economy too.
At the Future of the Car Summit, Deiss said a few problems need to be fixed before the road to electromobility becomes a smooth one. He also said that it takes a lot of time and a lot of investment to build EV infrastructure.
Volkswagen expects that half of its sales will be EVs by 2030. By 2040, the company said almost 100% of its new vehicles in major markets should be zero-emission vehicles. During the first quarter of the year, the Volkswagen group reported EV sales of 99,100 units which are 65% higher than a year ago.
