HAMBURGWASHINGTON, May 11 Reuters Volkswagen plans to expand its electric in vehicle range the United States with a fully electric pickup and sports utility vehicle under the Scout brand, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

The carmaker would invest around 100 million euros 105.52 million in the new brand, the people said, potentially seeking external funding through investors or an IPO to expand its production capabilities.

VW39;s supervisory board will decide on the topic at a meeting later on Wednesday, a VW spokesperson confirmed, and said an update was planned later on Wednesday.

Scout and Travelall vehicles made by International Harvester were forerunners in both function and style of popular SUVs from the Big Three Detroit automakers such as the Ford Bronco and General Motors39; Chevrolet Suburban.

Harvester stopped building the Scout and Traveall in 1980 after the oil price shocks of the mid1970s as it went through a restructuring.

But the Scout look lives on in vehicles such as Ford39;s current Bronco and electric vehicle start up Rivians R1 pickup and SUV line.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that VW hopes to eventually sell up to 250,000 Scoutbranded vehicles annually in the United States and begin production in 2026.

VW first disclosed it was considering using the Scout name late last year. The German automaker39;s Traton SE business acquired U.S. truck maker Navistar in 2020, which owns the Scout name.

GM in 2020…