Cost of Scout Plant in Carolina Exceeds US$3 Billion

The cost of the plant that Volkswagen is building in South Carolina for its new Scout Motors division has already reached US$3 billion, exceeding the initial budget of US$2 billion, according to the German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Although the figure was confirmed by Scout spokespeople, they dismissed the idea that this was an overspend, assuring that the initial investment was always considered a “minimum floor” and that the construction remains within the margins of the business plan.

The company, now revived as a manufacturer of electrified off-road vehicles, also clarified that one of the reasons for the increase in costs was a $300 million expansion to open a supplier park, which will ultimately improve process efficiency.

However, the Düsseldorf-based media outlet claims that for the parent company, these are costs that were not “precisely planned,” which is why its executives in Wolfsburg are carefully monitoring the development of the plant, which already has more than 150,000 vehicles reserved despite the fact that the first units will not begin production until 2027.

Just last month, Volkswagen revealed that it had frozen plans to build a second assembly plant in the United States for its luxury division Audi, because tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have severely depleted its finances.

The German automaker's CEO, Oliver Blume, acknowledged to Handelsblatt that the continuing tariff burden, combined with rising costs, has made it increasingly difficult to justify a large-scale US investment.