Santana Motor makes a comeback with a pickup truck

Spanish automaker Santana Motor S.A., mostly known for producing Land Rover SUVs on a license, ceased all operations 14 years ago. It now looks like the badge gets a second lease on life thanks to foreign investors.

Zhengzhou-Nissan, a joint venture co-founded between Nissan and Dongfeng in China, has bought out the Santana badge and is planning to launch production in Spain. It has shared two teaser pics of an unnamed pickup truck that it plans to offer in diesel and plug-in hybrid variants.

The vehicle resembles the Dongfeng Z9 and the Nissan Frontier Pro (see video). It’s likely based on the same platform and technology. Moving forward, Santana plans to add other versions of the truck to the lineup.

In turn, Nissan has a mid-size SUV in the plans based on the Frontier Pro chassis.