Volkswagen-backed Scout Motors, in nod to past, toasts start of construction of electric SUV plant

Volkswagen Group-backed Scout Motors is celebrating the start of construction on its $2 billion electric SUV plant in South Carolina. But instead of a line of people in suits with shovels, the company gave a symbolic nod to the vehicle's storied past. A fleet of old Scout vehicles delivered a brick found on the site of the factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the rugged, boxy precursors to SUVs were built in the 1960s and 1970s. They brought it to the new plant site in Blythewood, South Carolina. Scout says the first $50,000 vehicle will roll off the line in 2027 and it hopes to employ up to 4,000 people making 200,000 vehicles a year.