Scout Motors announced it began welding, painting and assembling validation vehicles at its production center in Blythewood, S.C. The development comes two and a half years after groundbreaking and marks a step toward production of the Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Terra truck.
The automaker added that it has installed most manufacturing equipment as construction enters the final phase. These early validation vehicle builds allow Scout Motors to validate vehicle engineering, buildability and parts maturity, while confirming that newly installed equipment can function as expected. Conducting this work at the production center also gives manufacturing teams hands-on experience as they prepare for later stages of process validation and production ramp-up.
The company expects the $2 billion production center to create more than 4,000 jobs.
“What we are building in Blythewood is no longer a promise on paper,” Scout Motors President & CEO Scott Keogh said. “Our equipment is coming to life and our teams are building our first validation vehicles right here in the factory.”
Facility activities include robots performing tasks that demand precision and repeatability. Meanwhile, employees oversee operations, evaluate quality and assess how the newly installed equipment performs as vehicles move through the factory.
In the body shop, approximately 160 individual parts come together to form a complete vehicle body. More than 750 robots support the operation and each completed body contains approximately 5,000 weld points.
AI-supported weld monitoring and advanced measurement systems help evaluate weld performance and dimensional accuracy. Teams can then identify issues, verify that vehicle bodies meet engineering specifications and capture lessons that can inform future manufacturing processes.
An advanced metrology system provides another quality checkpoint. Sample vehicle bodies will undergo thousands of measurements against engineering specifications before moving to paint and assembly.
Scout Motors designed the body shop to process approximately 40 vehicles per hour at full capacity. At this stage, teams confirm that equipment functions as expected, while using the builds to advance engineering, buildability and parts maturity. Process validation and scaling to production speed will follow, as manufacturing readiness progresses.
The production center also features an electrified automotive paint shop, where vehicle bodies move through cleaning, coating, corrosion protection, painting, drying and inspection, with quality checks throughout the process. From there, vehicles advance to assembly, where team members install the components.
Located less than 20 miles north of Columbia, the site connects Scout Motors to regional talent and colleges and universities focused on automotive engineering and technology.
The production center also looks to attract suppliers and strengthen South Carolina’s manufacturing base. In 2025, Scout Motors announced its additional $300 million investment to build an onsite Supplier Park, which it expects to support approximately 1,000 supplier jobs and attract $368 million in additional supplier investment.
Validation vehicle builds will continue and mature into 2027 as Scout Motors prepares for its next phase of pre-production vehicle builds.
