Scout Motors

So that's kind of interesting.

But the other thing too, as you look at what's going on with Scout, that was going to be pure electric.

And now it's going to be a range extended electric vehicle.

In other words, they're going to put a little four-cylinder engine in there to act as a generator to power the electric motors and to recharge the battery.

It can trigger supplier investments, workforce training programs, and entirely new manufacturing ecosystems that reshape a region for decades.

Scout Motors hasn't produced its first vehicle yet, but companies from around the world are already making decisions based on its future in South Carolina.

Today, we're joined by Annie Caggiano, Senior Vice President of Business Recruitment for the Central South Carolina Alliance, to discuss how OEM projects attract suppliers, why workforce development has become a competitive advantage, and what it takes to build a manufacturing hub from the ground up.

Annie, thank you so much for being here today.

We really appreciate you sitting down and talking to us here on Assembly Audible.

But before we get into, uh, everything that's going on with Scout Motors, give us a sense of what's happening in South Carolina just in general.

Why has the region become such a manufacturing growth story?

Post-COVID, we've seen an explosion.

Uh, that case is pending still, so we'll wait and see what happens there.

But here it is, you know, maybe six months later, we're essentially talking about the same thing because while a lot of the discussion is about Carvana's business model and, uh, their, their historic, you know, direct to consumer model, what I think is happening is Stellantis is identifying a way to seek cover by not going direct to consumer overtly, but doing something, you know, out of the VW Scout playbook, but actually polishing it up a little bit more-

Mm-hmm

... and forming this alliance with Carvana, who is typically a direct to consumer, you know, business model historically.

That means what does Scout stand for in the market? How do we get more people to know what Scout is and hopefully love Scout? It also is responsible for the product offer structure.

So what's the price of these vehicles? What equipment do they have? What content do they have? And then the final point is how do we ensure that this company, Scout Motors, is around for the next 100 years? So how do we future-proof the business model? How do we future-proof the portfolio? How do we ensure we have a long-term strategy on our hands?

And do I understand it right? You were like the second employee hired with Scout?

That is my claim to fame, yeah.

So we will start with the extended range EV first, the E-Rev first, and Bev will come after that.

Wow.

And are these going to be standalone Scout Motors dealerships?

Yeah, so

For example, Donald Trump this week publicly stated that 97 car plants are currently under construction in the United States.

The reality from automotive industry data shows that only two are actively under construction, Scout Motors in Blythewood, South Carolina, and Rivian in Stanton Springs, Georgia.

Where the investment ledger does find a factual anchor, however, is in the staggering private capital pouring directly into AI infrastructure.

While traditional manufacturing numbers wobble, tech giants and infrastructure consortia are executing some of the largest genuine capital projects in industrial history.

I'm very excited for this mega site because I was always thinking about, man, just like a Hyundai or something like that, like a Mercedes, a BMW.

By the way, do you want to know the first company that evaluated that site? It was Scout Motors that located in Columbia, South Carolina.

Oh, they did.

But we didn't have the due diligence done.

They're like, you are stuck.

That's the problem that Scout's running into right now.

Because that's trying to be

like a loophole, right? Scout's whole thing was direct-to-consumer.

Yes, but all the VW dealers are like,

uh-uh.

Aptera and Tello, that would cover all my needs.

Yeah, mine's still a little bit bigger.

Let the kids sit in the middle in the front again.

Don't let just Scout Motors be the only people thinking about something like that.

Let's get back to it.

And if you have the chance to do it with these years coming up, you shouldn't just look at it like we got to extend our pilot.

Pet projects in their districts, theaters, and all sorts of unnecessary spending.

Also, you've got $150 million in a crony capitalist handout to Scout Motors, a company that's years behind schedule, fulfilling on its promises in a market that is absolutely tanked.

Half a billion dollars.

$150 million in subsidies.