16 Facts About Santana Motors

The last models manufactured under the name "Land Rover Santana Motors" were sent at the request of the Spanish Government as a donation to Colombia, as were a few others to Mexico.

Arrival on the market of new off-road models and a certain technological obsolescence led Santana Motors to seek international alliances, which were found in 1985 with the Japanese brand Suzuki.

In 1995, the Junta de Andalucia bought the entirety of the company from Suzuki; but this nationalisation of Santana Motors quickly led to great financial difficulties, and by 2001 it registered losses of over €300 million.

From 2006 to 2009, Santana Motors produced cars under agreement with Iveco, most notably the Massif.

Today, Santana Motors vehicles are highly sought after, particularly in the United Kingdom where they have been auctioned for relatively high prices.

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Santana Motors was set up with a start up of just 3 million pesetas, following a drive by the Spanish government in 1954 who were offering start-up incentives to local businesses to encourage development in the Andalucia region of Southern Spain.

Santana Motors decided to expand beyond its original products line and entered into talks with the Rover car company in 1956 in an attempt to get a licensing agreement to build Land Rover Series models in their factory, in a similar way to the Minerva company in Belgium, Tempo in Germany and Morattab company in Iran, all built Series Land Rovers under licence.

From 1968 Santana Motors began to develop its own versions of the Land Rover Series Models, developing new engines and new models and this close relationship with Land Rover led the company to change its name from "Metalurgica de Santa Ana, SA" to "Land Rover Santana Motors, SA".

From 1964 until the mid-1970s, Santana Motors manufactured a Commer walk-through truck for the local market.

For instance, Santana Motors models featured anatomical seats, disc-brakes, turbo diesel engines, taper-leaf springs, coil springs, and civilian-specification Forward Control versions before the Land Rover equivalents and there was even a civilian version of the Land Rover Lightweight called the "Ligero" which was never released by Land Rover.

Santana Motors's continued to offer a more robust platform with leaf springs and heavier-duty axels.

Two companies continued to share most components and coordinate global sales in certain markets, with Santana Motors continuing to sell to South America, Central America, Spain, and parts of Africa.

Land Rover and Santana Motors had a unique relationship with other markets as well, including Iran.

Subsequently, in June 2007, the Daniel Alonso Group of Aviles and Santana Motors agreed to start up a joint industrial project for the manufacture of wind towers in various production centres in Spain, including that of Linares.

The Santana Motors produced Massif would go into direct competition with the Land Rover Defender, the direct descendant of the original utility Series Land Rover which spawned the entire Santana Motors Motor Company.

When Santana Motors broke with Suzuki, Suzuki kept the distribution network that had been created by Santana Motors over the preceding decades.