I need to whisper this so our vehicles can't hear it. We haven't needed service other than oil changes and tire rotations in 9 years.
Service Center
- Thread starter mbeadnell
- Start date
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From all of us at Scout Motors, welcome to the Scout Community! We created this community to provide Scout vehicle owners, enthusiasts, and curiosity seekers with a place to engage in discussion, suggestions, stories, and connections. Supportive communities are sometimes hard to find, but we're determined to turn this into one.
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So, welcome to the Scout Community! We encourage you to check back regularly as we plan to engage our members, share teasers, and participate in discussions. The world needs Scouts™. Let's get going.
We are Scout Motors.
This is what was reported last week in Automotive News:
Cody Thacker, Scout’s vice president of commercial operations, said the Volkswagen Group-backed brand has been able to see what’s working with other direct-to-consumer auto brands when it comes to service — and, just as importantly, what’s not.
“We know that many DTC customers are frustrated with the service experience so we’ve leaned into that,” Thacker said during a fireside chat Nov. 20 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. “The way we describe our retail operations [is] digital-first experience, service-first infrastructure.”
Difficulties with service and parts availability, coupled with long repair wait times, are common issues consumers encounter with direct-to-consumer brands, Thacker said.
To counter that, Scout plans to maximize service labor capacity.
We are absolutely over-indexing on service,” Thacker said. “In fact, for every year of our growth, we’re building 15 percent more service labor capacity than the anticipated need in that year. It allows us to learn. It allows us to grow. It allows us to always have availability for appointments for consumers.”
Scout is planning to open 25 brand-owned rooftops in the U.S. when production starts. The first 25 will either be Scout Studios, where customers shop and interact with a sales adviser, or Scout Workshops, where service is performed.
VW Group, VW Group of America and Scout maintain the startup is an independent corporate entity, something VW and Audi dealers in the U.S. have legally questioned as the brand pursues direct-to-consumer sales.
Scout plans to grow quickly after launching sales, reaching at total of 57 retail and service sites in Year 2, including two in Canada. Scout then plans to add 10 rooftops annually until it reaches 100 in 2032. Ninety-three will be in the U.S. while seven will be in Canada.
Scout is aiming to have around 1,400 service bays across the country staffed by about 900 technicians five years after the brand launches production, Thacker said.
“We are investing heavily in providing [a] super-high-quality, fast-service experience,” Thacker said.
The brand has around 130,000 vehicle reservations. Thacker said 70 percent of reservation holders live within 45 minutes of one of the eventual rooftops. Almost all reservation holders live within a one- to two-hour drive of an eventual rooftop, Thacker said.
Cody Thacker, Scout’s vice president of commercial operations, said the Volkswagen Group-backed brand has been able to see what’s working with other direct-to-consumer auto brands when it comes to service — and, just as importantly, what’s not.
“We know that many DTC customers are frustrated with the service experience so we’ve leaned into that,” Thacker said during a fireside chat Nov. 20 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. “The way we describe our retail operations [is] digital-first experience, service-first infrastructure.”
Difficulties with service and parts availability, coupled with long repair wait times, are common issues consumers encounter with direct-to-consumer brands, Thacker said.
To counter that, Scout plans to maximize service labor capacity.
We are absolutely over-indexing on service,” Thacker said. “In fact, for every year of our growth, we’re building 15 percent more service labor capacity than the anticipated need in that year. It allows us to learn. It allows us to grow. It allows us to always have availability for appointments for consumers.”
Scout is planning to open 25 brand-owned rooftops in the U.S. when production starts. The first 25 will either be Scout Studios, where customers shop and interact with a sales adviser, or Scout Workshops, where service is performed.
VW Group, VW Group of America and Scout maintain the startup is an independent corporate entity, something VW and Audi dealers in the U.S. have legally questioned as the brand pursues direct-to-consumer sales.
Scout plans to grow quickly after launching sales, reaching at total of 57 retail and service sites in Year 2, including two in Canada. Scout then plans to add 10 rooftops annually until it reaches 100 in 2032. Ninety-three will be in the U.S. while seven will be in Canada.
Scout is aiming to have around 1,400 service bays across the country staffed by about 900 technicians five years after the brand launches production, Thacker said.
“We are investing heavily in providing [a] super-high-quality, fast-service experience,” Thacker said.
The brand has around 130,000 vehicle reservations. Thacker said 70 percent of reservation holders live within 45 minutes of one of the eventual rooftops. Almost all reservation holders live within a one- to two-hour drive of an eventual rooftop, Thacker said.
Thanks for the post I had not watched the fireside chat. Looks they are paying attention and hopefully coming up with a better solution.
This kind of marketing speech is annoying.
Even if they had 1400 roofs on day 1, they won't have as many customer-facing Scout employees as vehicles sold. And if they do, they'll be bankrupt very quickly. They'll never have a 1:1 relationship. It would be foolish to attempt to do that.
IMO, a better goal would be to ensure that all customers are less than 30 minutes from a service-capable technician.
They’ve previously said that 80% of repairs would not require them to do it. I don’t remember the exact wording, but my takeaway was that the information, skillset and equipment would be widely available. To me this means you could take it to your local mechanic or do it yourself without voiding a warranty. This tended not to be true of companies like Tesla and rivian. So I’m guessing it will not be case that every repair needs to go to a scout service center.
This is the quote from Strategy Director at Scout motors Ryan Decker at CES. "80% will be repairable in the field or driveway. Not glued, but screwed”
Scout Aims to Make EV Repairs Easier for Owners
Scout Motors aims to revolutionize EV ownership by allowing 80% of repairs to be done at home with easy-to-replace components and guides.
evhype.com
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Here's an article where Scout Motors Strategy Director Ryan Decker is interviewed:
Scout thinks EVs should be easy to repair yourself
Scout said 80% of the repairs for its EVs could be performed without visiting a dealership.
I'm sure warranty work will still need to be performed at an authorized Scout service center.
But how many independent service centers are going to be comfortable taking on a brand new vehicle? And will (and how) they get warranty work paid? What about recalls? Will their work be guaranteed by Scout?
It's one thing for me to do my own repairs in my workshop. It's quite another to ask a busy mom to choose between driving two hours each way for service, to wait two months for the mobile tech, or to have a local shop do work that's not gauranteed by Scout.
Scout Certified Service Centers need to be all over. They have the opportunity to upend the service model.
"They have the opportunity to upend the service model." Absolutely.
I like this approach for me, and it’s a reason I see this truck as one that I can buy and keep for a long time - something I generally don’t think I can do with my Rivian.
That said, if this costs 60k minimum, probably more like $70-80, I don’t think it’s a good strategy to think you can simply send an owner a part and have them fix it. Is auto shop even taught in high schools anymore?
My brother is retiring after more than 30 years of teaching automotive science at the high school and community college level in a rural community. Even when certs worth $5k-$20k of education were offered for free for BEV, PHEV, and HEV technicians, kids wouldn't take them. Because they'd been so negatively influenced by their friends and family to hate electric... They only wanted to work on carbureted classic cars.
