International News

An all-new brand, nimble and contemporary, designed specifically to take-on the emerging markets and beat competition from more established brands.Volkswagen’s idea to revive the Scout brand as a primarily electric offering with an SUV and pickup seemed like a great idea when it was announced more than two years ago.But times have changed, dramatically.When the idea for Scout was revealed to the public, hopes were high the electric pickup truck market was about to boom in the USA, with the arrival of the Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T.The Scout Terra ute and Traveler SUV concepts the brand revealed in the US recently look promising, both stylish and with good on-paper specifications.The problem is, the EV market has not evolved as expected. The F-150 Lightning has failed to spark with customers, the Cybertruck is an oddity and Rivian is still struggling to make a profit. Launching a new brand into these conditions looks like a far worse idea than it did two years ago, but Volkswagen is committed now and must carry on.Scout Motors president and CEO Scott Keogh tried to put a positive spin on the situation.“The original core idea — rugged, versatile vehicles capable of off-road adventure and family duty — is more relevant than ever,” he said. What Keogh failed to mention was the electric powertrains, originally a key selling point for Scout. Along with battery only. the brand will offer a range-extender option for those who don’t want to commit all the way to battery power. Scout is not going to offer petrol or diesel combustion engines.Whether this will be a gamble that jackpots or goes bust remains to be seen, but it does highlight the shifting fortunes in the EV market. After a slow start there was a boom for EV demand as models like the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y became more mainstream, even in markets like Australia. It saw multiple brands commit to an all-electric future within the next decade, but the EV sales growth has cooled. Electric car sales are still up year-to-date in Australia, but account for about 7.4 per cent of the total market. Australians continue to prefer petrol and hybrid powered vehicles — and that doesn’t look like changing dramatically anytime soon.The good news for Volkswagen Australia is there are no plans to offer the Scout models locally, they’ll be made in the US for the US market only. But the story of Scout and its early decision to nail its colours to the mast of electrification is a cautionary one for many car makers.Toyota has been criticised for its slow introduction of EVs, offering only the bZ4X SUV alongside a fleet of hybrid options. And yet, Toyota remains Australia’s favourite brand by some margin thanks to its ‘multi-pathway’ strategy of offering different options for different buyers.Not that EVs won’t become more popular in Australia, especially if the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) helps to drive more investment in the segment and push down prices as hoped, but there is no guarantee it will.As the team at Volkswagen and Scout can no doubt tell you, a lot can change in two years…

This might look like any old generic ute but it isn't. That's the point.

But this little odd concept is designed to get young kids into cars along with their parents. To that end, Toyota says it could carry three people -- essentially two adults and a child. The Toyota Camatte Concept was revealed at the 2012 International Tokyo Toy Show overnight with features the Japanese carmaker touts as being particularly kid-friendly.  The Camatte's main party trick is the ability to swap out the body panels, snapping in others in a different colour or style as the mood takes you, or perhaps to provide fun for the whole family when there's nothing on television.  But the more serious job it's been given is to spark an early interest in driving -- in a world where young people are increasingly bypassing the car. With the ability to communicate across a host of social media networks, coupled with growing economic and unemployment pressure in many countries, young people are bypassing not only the car but even the ritual of learning to drive.  This car aims to perform the same job once ascribecd to lolly cigarettes: get them young and they will continue the habit. However Toyota says the simple body structure and components are designed to give the whole family "the chance to become more familiar with the workings of motor vehicles". Seating is arranged in a one-plus-two triangular layout the carmaker says will aid communication between child up front and parents in the back. And the car also features pedals, so the child can "develop driving skills while a parent takes care of important tasks like steering and braking". There are no details about the drivetrain, but the video shows what could likely be a battery pack as the car is dismantled and reconfigured. The parent in the right-hand side seat can also take control of the steering wheel and brakes while the car is under way. The Camette is being displayed in two versions, the Camette ‘Sora’, and Camette ‘Daichi’. There are no production plans at the moment. However don't completely dismiss the idea of seeing something similar reach the market. Just as in many other countries, the leaner-licence aged youth in Japan are turning away from cars. And that's a concern for Japanese carmakers who know that if they don't get 'em young, they might not get 'em at all.