Nope, lead or get out of the way. This is a red hot segment and Dodge needs to be part of it. Period.
Two door pickup truck based SUVs are dead, and won't come back in my lifetime. As far as leading the way, the Jeep Recon (or whatever it is called) will arrive first, well before the Scout. The fun part is VW said they will follow a boutique marketing scheme to sell this. Fiat USA should be proud because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Will VW's Scout survive the looming World Court battle and trade war started by the
Inflation Reduction Act ?
VW made an entire new Scout brand for a segment thats "on the way out" and we all know wrangler and 4runner sales have been in the toilet for the last while.
VW hasn't made anything. Whatever the Scout is it won't be made by VW. The two leading contenders for building this smoke and mirrors project are Magna Steyr and Foxconn. If Magna is chosen it should be a winner, if Magna driveline parts are used. If Foxconn gets the nod, no matter how far into the wilderness one travels, the CCP will always know where they are. The only two door Jeep is the regular Wrangler and its sales aren't significant. The Toyota 4Runner is hot because people are buying it like its going out of style. Seriously, it is going out of style. There will soon be a hybrid version, but that won't be enough to satisfy the zero emissions states. There will also be a battery electric version to compliment a BE Tacoma. There won't be a 2-door 4Runner, the segment is dead.
Lets review the facts
1. The pickup truck based, BOF, two-door large SUV Chevy Blazer, Ford Bronco and Dodge Ramcharger all were phased out decades ago. They were replaced by larger SUVs, or in the case of the Ramcharger, it was replaced by a smaller 4-door Durango. The market continues to split that way, massive BOF SUVs and midsize SUVs only some of which are BOF. Nearly everything is 4-door.
2. Europe and a bakers dozen of US states have zero emissions mandates. These particular US states contain around half of the US population and this impacts greatly on the automobile market.
3. Right now the VW Scout exists only on paper. If it ever becomes reality it will be battery electric only, and also late to the game.
4. It is most likely Dodge will get a BOF SUV. It will be battery electric, see fact #2. There might be some ICE powered versions for red states, but don't count on it.
5. Someone who partakes of too much MSM will accept those media sources as reality. The threads on this forum are watched by a number of people from different locations globally. They often bring perspectives from outside the MSM bubble and have access to unfiltered news sources. We need their perspective. This isn't an echo chamber.
