Scott Keough, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, steps down to lead the automaker’s Scout brand for battery-electric pickup trucks and SUVs.

Keough, who has served as president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America since 2018, will become Scout’s president and CEO. He will be replaced on September 1 by Pablo Di Si, executive chairman of Volkswagen South American Region.

The automaker, which analysts say is poised to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest EV company, announced plans in May to launch a new EV brand Named after the International Harvester Scout, a precursor to the modern SUV of the early 1960s, the battery-electric brand plans to introduce a pickup and SUV by 2026.

Volkswagen said it will invest more than $100 million in Scout as part of its efforts to bring more than two dozen EV models to the US by the end of the decade and double its market share to 10%.

The company said Scout will not use Volkswagen’s MEB modular EV platform, a flexible system that supports vehicles such as the Volkswagen ID.4 and Audi Q4 e-tron compact SUVs and allows the Volkswagen Group’s brands to share costs and reduce costs. can increase efficiency.

Volkswagen has not given any details on plans for Scout’s first models, but said the pickup will be similar to the Ford Maverick. This strategy will allow the automaker to gain access to the strong US pickup segment without competing with the major players in the segment, such as the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F-150.

The company has not said where it will manufacture Scout models, but Volkswagen will build the ID.4 at its facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said the creation of the new brand will be “critical to seize historic market opportunities in the US and take our growth strategy in the region to the next level.”