Santana is back on the road and will once again manufacture SUVs in Linares thanks to an agreement with Chinese investors.

Following the Ebro River's rebirth and its successful commercial and industrial debut, a group of local entrepreneurs has decided to replicate the Zona Franca brand's business model with Santana, another historic name with a long tradition in Spain, especially in rural areas and among primary activity sectors.

Santana was an all-terrain vehicle manufacturer active between 1956 and 2011 and is especially remembered for its 4x4s manufactured under license from Land Rover. In fact, it's not unusual to find some of the legendary Santana Land Rovers still in operation in many towns across the Iberian Peninsula, or the more recent models that Santana manufactured under license from Suzuki during the early 21st century.

Thanks to the agreement between Santana Motor SL (a company owned by Argentine businessman Eduardo Blanco, originally from Ebro), Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile and Anhui Coronet, the firm plans to reopen its facilities in Linares, which will be renamed Santana Factory, to manufacture disruptive 4x4 vehicles," according to the new Santana statement.

The planned initial investment to launch the new factory will be around 5 million euros and should generate around 200 jobs, according to the Linares City Council. joint venture in China between Nissan and the local manufacturer Dongfeng in 1993. The model that will most likely be manufactured in Linares will be the European version of the Dongfeng Z9, a pickup truck or pick up 5.2 meters long, manufactured in China and based on the Nissan Frontier pickup truck.

The truck or pick up The Santana model will be exactly the same as the Chinese one, which will be shipped to Europe and eventually assembled at the Linares facility, repeating the current Ebro model in the Zona Franca. 40,000 or 45,000 euros.