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Volkswagen · 1983–2006

Volkswagen Santana

Volkswagen Santana
Photo: Dinkun Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗

The Volkswagen Santana is a nameplate used by Volkswagen for various sedans and station wagons since 1983. The first generation is based on the second-generation Volkswagen Passat (B2). It was introduced in 1981 while production started in 1983 for China. The use of the "Santana" badge rather than "Passat" echoes the use of different names for the sedan versions of the Polo (Derby) and Golf (Jetta). In North America, it was also known as the Volkswagen Quantum. In Mexico, it was named the Volkswagen Corsar, while in Argentina it was sold as the Volkswagen Carat. In Brazil and other South American countries it was known as the Santana, while the Passat Variant B2 wagon was marketed as the Quantum. In Europe, the Santana name was dropped in 1985 (with the exception of Spain, where the Santana nameplate was retained) and the car was sold as a Passat. European test production ended in 1988 while Latin American production continued until 2006. Chinese production of the three box sedan continued until January 2013. The final Chinese versions were named Santana Vista, and the name Santana was used on a new 2013 model, slightly smaller and based on the Škoda Rapid and SEAT Toledo.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

On UK roads252025 Q4

Generations & variants

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UK vehicles on the road

7 licensed and 18 SORN (25 total) at 2025 Q4.

Year (latest quarter)Vehicles
201421
201523
201622
201723
201823
201924
202023
202124
202225
202326
202426
202525

DfT/DVLA VEH0120 vehicle licensing statistics, source ↗, Open Government Licence v3.0. Small counts are rounded or suppressed at source.

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