Will it try to bypass them for Tesla-like sales model?

The Volkswagen Group held dealers out of the loop in advance of the new announcement of its Scout EV model, Automotive Information described Monday.

VW announced the Scout brand name May 11, confirming designs for a North American-market place electric pickup truck and SUV underneath a independent brand construction. Scout, which revives the name of the vintage Intercontinental Harvester Scout, is scheduled to demonstrate prototypes in 2023 and start creation in 2026.

But dealers were caught off guard by the announcement, foremost some to wonder if VW was preparing to adopt Tesla’s immediate-product sales retail model for the new manufacturer, according to Automotive News.

Polestar Room

VW has not discovered essential specifics, this kind of as who will take care of a standalone Scout manufacturer or what platforms its EVs may possibly use. But holding Scout different from the most important VW model could generate an opening for a different retail model.

Though Polestar is an offshoot of Volvo Autos and its mother or father Geely, Polestar has prevented difficulties with Volvo’s United States seller network by looping it in on company. The model has been opening Polestar Areas in lieu of traditional showrooms.

Tesla failed to shy away from pointing out that its shop design started off with the Model S was created straight from Apple Shops. It even employed Apple’s retail guru who was broadly credited with that set up.

Tesla Retailer Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]

That is been a design followed by Lucid and Rivian—the latter a prospective competitor to Scout’s rugged EVs. None of these automakers have a classic seller network to function all over, though.

Even Tesla has experienced to combat seller foyer teams and point out franchise guidelines, so going absent from the traditional franchised dealership model arrives with pitfalls. But it can be demonstrated to be a excellent way to showcase new EVs, whilst supplying customers an different to the normally-stressful practical experience of automobile purchasing at a dealership.