VW's new Scout must be true off-roader, not an urban SUV

There's been plenty of grumbling online about Volkswagen's plan to resurrect the Scout SUV, which had a very successful run from 1961 to 1980 when it was built by International Harvester.

Most of the complaining has to do with VW owning the brand. What does a German company know about designing a super-rugged, go-anywhere, four-wheel-drive SUV specifically aimed at American consumers?

That is not an unfair question. Because a vehicle like the Scout is not one VW has ever tried to build for North American customers or dealers.

But then, VW Group never built an upper-crust British luxury car before it bought Bentley in 1998 and five years later brought forth the Continental GT, a huge hit for the brand.

And another German company, BMW, has had a very successful run with the famed Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. So the concern about German ownership of an iconic American SUV might be a bit premature.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for VW will be the design and layout of the new Scout, with plans for an SUV and pickup that will electric-only. Ford and Land Rover have shown that there is more than one way to successfully resurrect a classic, much-loved off-road vehicle.

Ford's retro-styled Bronco looks like a modern version of the original 1966-77 SUV, and it remains one of the industry's hottest-selling vehicles. Land Rover's new Defender looks nothing like the classic model that went out of production in 2016, but it is also red-hot on the showroom floor.

The latest Defender has shown it's OK to make radical changes in style. Although many fans of the classic Defender said they did not care for the looks of the new model, much of that online noise died down when Land Rover demonstrated the capability of the revamped off-roader. The design team left a few classic styling cues, such as the alpine roof windows and swing-open tailgate, in the new model to appeal to traditionalists.

If VW gets the size of the new Scout right — that is, keeps it close to the original in wheelbase, width, height and length — and comes up with a design that makes the vehicle both familiar and fresh, it will probably sell well. That is provided the market for electric off-road vehicles continues to mature.

Here's how VW could get it wrong: If the new Scout emerges as a "soft-roader" — the buzzword for an urban SUV that cannot handle much more than a muddy road — it will sink among Scout fans who have clamored for a modern model.

The revived Scout has to be completely different from any of the electric vehicles VW has coming. To be true to the original, the Scout has to be a complete mountain goat of a vehicle. It does not have to be body-on-frame — the new Defender is not — but if it wears the Scout name, it has to be a true all-terrain vehicle. Ideally, the new Scout will use heavy-duty electric axles or maybe even wheelhub motors.

If it comes loaded with price-bloating luxury features and electric nannies that rob off-roaders of the joy of driving, that could also doom it.

But my money is on VW successfully pulling off the Scout's return.