Latest news with #InternationalHarvesterScout
Miami Herald
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Scout Motors urges DOJ to fight state dealer franchise laws
The Republican Party may be the party of "states' rights," but Scout Motors hopes the current Republican presidential administration will eliminate the state franchise laws that impede its direct-sales strategy, according to an Automotive News report. Scout called on the federal government to do this in an 11-page letter submitted to the Justice Department's Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force by Blair Anderson, the automaker's vice president of government and regulatory affairs. The task force was created in March after president Donald Trump signed executive orders in January and February calling for removing "regulatory burdens placed on the American people." The letter used similar language, calling franchise laws "burdensome restrictions on competition." Car sales in the United States are currently regulated by a patchwork of state laws, some of which allow automakers to sell cars directly to customers. But many states still require franchised dealerships. There's been friction between those dealerships and automakers since Tesla unveiled its direct-sales model over a decade ago. Tesla fought a series of legal battles with franchised dealerships in individual states. Now Scout, which plans to build its Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck in a new South Carolina factory starting in 2027, is facing similar struggles. A group of Volkswagen and Audi dealerships in Florida filed a lawsuit in February to block Scout's direct-sales plans, and the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) filed a similar lawsuit in April, Automotive News noted. In March, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) also sent a letter to Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume and other executives urging the company to let its members sell Scout vehicles. Scout revives the International Harvester Scout, one of the original SUVs, which the VW Group gained the rights to after its purchase of International's successor Navistar. The new Scout vehicles are rugged off-roaders, with body-on-frame construction, with all-electric or extended-range powertrains. They're also unlike anything in the current VW Group portfolio, and exactly the kinds of vehicles dealerships in truck-loving America are eager to sell. That's likely adding fuel to the fire over the VW Group's attempt to set up a new brand with direct sales, while keeping franchised dealerships for its other brands. In the letter, Anderson said that, as a new manufacturer, Scout shouldn't be forced to adopt the franchised dealership model "especially when the new manufacturer has not asked any dealerships to place any investment in distributing its vehicles, developed a more efficient alternative, and will not sell any vehicles also offered for sale by a franchised dealer." Dealerships don't seem to buy the logic that Scout's clean slate entitles it to a different sales model than its fellow VW Group brands. The question is whether the federal government will and whether, if it does, it actually has the authority to strike down state franchise laws. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'The Heavy-Duty Truck Capitol of the World' is reborn in Fort Wayne
'The Heavy-Duty Truck Capitol of the World' was the nickname for Truck Plant 1 at the Fort Wayne International Harvester Plant. 'If you didn't have someone in your family that worked here, didn't know much about it, you might think 'Oh, that's where they built the trucks,' said Ryan DuVall, founder of Harvester Homecoming. "But when you get right down to it, they didn't just build trucks. You they developed them, they innovated them, they changed the world here in a lot of ways." The first generation International Harvester Scout was considered by many to be the precursor to early SUV's. It pre-dated the Ford Bronco and the Chevy Blazer, and was built to compete with the Jeep. The renewed interest in IH Scouts and other antique convertible trucks in recent years has manifested in the form of Scout Motors, a Volkswagen-backed brand, with plans to produce Scout EV vehicles by 2027. Harvester Homecoming supports the effort by sending two bricks from the original 1923 factory, the oldest truck factory still standing, to be included in the building of the new factory in Blythewood, South Carolina. After bouncing around different spaces on the former IH factory campus, the Harvester Homecoming Museum is now fundraising for it's permanent location at Fields of Grace sports park in New Haven, Ind. With portions of the original IH factory and buildings on both sides of the road, between Fort Wayne and New Haven, locals of both towns can claim the IH historical heritage. Duvall has hopes of opening the museum in 2026. This year's Harvester Homecoming Festival will take place Aug. 1-2, 2025. "Whether it was war vehicles, work vehicles, school busses, they didn't just build trucks here," Duvall said. "They changed transportation in the United States. This was built a few years after the Lincoln Highway opened, the first transcontinental highway, and they built a heavy duty truck plant right off of it like a stone's throw. And so basically, long haul trucking was perfected right here." This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'The Heavy-Duty Truck Capitol of the World' is reborn in Fort Wayne
