Volkswagen · 1983–2006
Volkswagen Santana
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).
Generations & variants
Photos
UK vehicles on the road
7 licensed and 18 SORN (25 total) at 2025 Q4.
| Year (latest quarter) | Vehicles |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 21 |
| 2015 | 23 |
| 2016 | 22 |
| 2017 | 23 |
| 2018 | 23 |
| 2019 | 24 |
| 2020 | 23 |
| 2021 | 24 |
| 2022 | 25 |
| 2023 | 26 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 25 |
DfT/DVLA VEH0120 vehicle licensing statistics, source ↗, Open Government Licence v3.0. Small counts are rounded or suppressed at source.
Sources
- Wikidata / Wikipedia profiles — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/cars/Q1506352CC0 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_SantanaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Intro text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1375299326 · retrieved 2026-10-03
- DfT/DVLA VEH0120 licensing statistics — https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tablesOpen Government Licence v3.0
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.
