As reported earlier this week, Audi is rumored to be developing a rugged, off-road-focused luxury SUV based on the upcoming platform from Volkswagen Group subsidiary Scout Motors. While unconfirmed by Audi or Scout, multiple industry reports suggest the vehicle would be designed specifically for the North American market and built in the United States at Scout’s Blythewood, South Carolina facility.
The proposed SUV is expected to use a body-on-frame, ladder-chassis architecture with a range-extender hybrid powertrain, combining electric drive with a gasoline engine used solely to generate electricity. Such a configuration would represent a significant departure for Audi, introducing true off-road hardware and construction more commonly associated with vehicles like the Land Rover Defender – a G-Wagen-like offering from a brand with authentic ties to off-road in the WRC and Dakar.
Also this week, the usual news monitoring performed for this website resulted in a bit of an oddball – a Ford Transit camper in Europe fitted with a modern Westphalia roof pop-top camper. The image pulled at a lot of nostalgia – especially a close friend’s Volkswagen Vanagon Westphalia. He’s from Kennebunk, Maine, and purchased the pop-top during COVID in order to spend the pandemic exploring his state. My family and I have enjoyed beachside take-out Lobster Roll dinners in the thing while the kids make noise above.
Last year I spent some time in a Rivian R1. It’s not an Audi, but its software and hardware functionality likely point to more of what we’ll see from the Volkswagen Group and it’s a great product. Its large expansive glass roof was interesting – perhaps a great view, but not exactly functional. During my ownership, I fantasized about removing the glass and fitting Westphalia style pop top. It being electric, that fantasy included heated sleeping in cold climates or air conditioned comfort in hot ones.
Then, this week while evolving my Audi Wanderer SUV idea that might be based on the Scout, I decided to merge these multiple ideas. Matching the more modern Westphalia design on the Transit and adding it to the Audi Wanderer I’d created was simple enough. I even threw on some roof-top rings inspired by the Dakar-winning RS Q e-tron for added visual appeal.
Next, I took the Wanderer out of the studio where I’d focused on the design itself and placed it in spaces I’d love to explore with such a vehicle. Yosemite’s El Capitan seemed appropriate. So did the 24 Hours of Nürburgring or the team pits at Circuit of the Americas.
If Audi is to build such a vehicle, named Wanderer or not, I think they’d do well to think more out-of-the-box than to make a 5 or 7 passenger SUV with Scout’s confirmed capabilities thanks to serious planned off-road hardware. They need to go further. A #vanlife friendly Westphalia pop-top camper definitely moves the needle. So would a creative take on rear seating like swiveling captains chairs or second and/or third row that fold flat for stacked sleeping quarters.
So, what would you add to this SUV in order to make it stand out in a crowded market? How could Audi reset the bar like it did with quattro in rally in the 1980s?
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