Spanish Car Brands

International concerns actively use Spain as a site for the production of their cars. Moreover, it is believed that Italians laid the foundations of automobile production in this country in 1919, when FIAT opened its branch near Barcelona. Despite this, Spain has enough of its own models of cars and trucks. Domestic companies such as Advanced Design Tramontana, Sociedad Española de Automobiles de Turismo, and others are widely represented on the world market and make a worthy competition to foreign brands.

What are Spanish automobile brands?

Many brands fall into this category, including SEAT, Irizar, Tauro Sport Auto, Spania GTA, Tramontana, Aspid, Benimar, Hurtan, and Cupra. Also gone are the car companies that manufactured cars in Spain: Pegaso, Hispano-Suiza, Abadal, and others.

Active Car Brands

Spanish cars – Seat, Tramontana – are famous all over the world. In addition to these famous companies, other equally recognizable brands are produced in Spain.

SEAT

SEAT is a Spanish company that is a part of the German automobile concern Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. Its name is an abbreviation of Sociedad Española de Automobiles de Turismo. The first car of this brand appeared in 1953, and the two-millionth car – in 1974. During this period, many racers in Spain moved to SEAT sports cars.

The first owner of the company was Fiat, but he refused to cooperate and, by his inaction, forced the automaker to sign a contract with Volkswagen. The German group of companies bought all the shares of SEAT in 1990.

Irizar

The bus direction in the Spanish automobile industry is represented by the company Irizar, named after its creator Jose Francisco Irizar Cataraina. He worked as a blacksmith but wanted to engage in passenger transportation and opened an enterprise for the production of stagecoaches and carriages. This happened in 1889. After 37 years, the business passed to Jose’s sons. They began to produce buses and agricultural machinery.

Since the 1950s, the company has constantly produced new models of buses. It got to the point where it partnered with Carrozzeria Orlandi to achieve technological excellence. Currently, the Irizar lineup includes conventional, electric, hybrid, and integrated buses of various models.

Tauro Sport Auto

The Tauro Sport Autosports car brand entered the market in 2012 with the V8 Spider model. At the same time, it appeared two years earlier: its origins date back to 2010, when a group of Spanish entrepreneurs decided to team up with a British manufacturer of racing cars. All the company’s cars are made to order, so the volume of the series is limited. Most of the work is done by hand.

The headquarters of Tauro Sport Auto is located in Valladolid. Currently, the head of the company is one of its founders, Pedro J Santos. The main line of sports cars is called Tauro V8. The cars of this model are equipped with an LS3 V8 engine produced by Chevrolet.

Spania GTA

Spania GTA designs and manufactures sports cars. It was founded by a member of the Spanish racing team GTA Motor Competición, to which it is now legally owned. The head and immediate founder of the company is Domingo Ochoa. The company’s key product is the GTA Spano model car. The first concept car of this series was presented to the public in 2010, and full-scale production began in 2013. Only 99 cars are planned to be produced as part of the debut Spania GTA lineup.

Tramontana

The Tramontana brand belongs to the Spanish company Atelier Tramontana. The manufacturer is a private company, Advanced Design Tramontana, which opened in 1995. It was founded by Josep Rubau, who previously worked at Volkswagen. He decided to revive traditional car brands of the last century, so the Tramontana sports car has a 1930s design. The model is suitable for race tracks and public roads but is often collectible because of the limited edition (12 pieces per year). Gold is used to finish the car.

Aspid

The Aspid series is a proprietary product of IFR Automotive. The company was founded by engineer Ignacio Fernandez. He opened it in 2003 with the aim of creating cars that combine the best qualities of racing and road transportation. The first model called the IFR Aspid, went on sale in 2009. IFR Automotive had another sports car, the GT-21 Invictus. Its debut was expected in 2013, but the project was closed before it could begin.

Benimar

Benimar is a well-known mobile home manufacturer that has been in existence since 1974. Its name consists of the letters Beni – the first letters of the name of the coastal city of Benicarló (Benicarló), where the company was founded, and Mar – Spanish for “sea.” In 1978, the debut motorhome appeared on the market – the undisputed leader of the selected segment. From 1984 to 2002, the company operated under the name Ocarsa until it was bought by the Trigano Group.

Hurtan

Juan Hurtado Gonzalez wanted to create the car of his dreams – a retro sports car. He realized this idea in the 1980s, and then, inspired by the success, he opened his own automobile production facility. Thus was born the company Hurtan Desarrollos SL, which introduced its first model, the Albaycín T2, in 1992. The family business is now based in Granada. It produces sports cars and electric cars with a classic body. The son of the founder does not change tradition and continues to develop ultra-modern cars in the style of the 1950s.

Cupra

The original name of this brand is SEAT Sport. It appeared in the town of Abrera (Catalonia) in 1985 as a sports division of the Spanish automaker SEAT, which is a part of the Volkswagen concern. The company’s main specialization was to produce competitive models for rally and other types of racing. It won several FIA awards: three wins with the SEAT Ibiza Kit-Car in the World Rally Championship (three consecutive years from 1996 to 1998 inclusive), two awards with the SEAT León in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (in 2008 and 2009). In 2018, the parent company renamed the brand Cupra and made it independent.

Defunct Car Brands

Hispano-Suiza

The Hispano-Suiza car company was founded by two Spanish entrepreneurs and one Swiss engineer, hence the choice of name (Hispano-Suiza means “Spanish-Swiss”). The company was founded in 1904 and was engaged in the production of luxury cars until the war. Then, it switched to the production of aircraft engines, and in 1919, it returned to its original course.

In 1944, Hispano-Suiza became part of the ENASA group and focused on the aerospace industry. It has twice tried to return to automobiles: in 2010 and 2019. Both times, new models were introduced, but production only started on the second attempt. So, the company can be considered revived in 2019.

Pegaso

The Pegaso automaker left the market in 1994 when it was acquired by Iveco. Before that, it was part of Enasa and produced sports cars, armored cars, tractors, omnibuses, and trucks. The company was founded in 1946. Its main industrial site was the old Hispano-Suiza plant. In the second half of the 20th century, it kept pace with the economic boom, producing a large number of buses and trucks. After the takeover of Pegaso, Iveco continued to use the brand for several years.

Abadal

Racecar driver Francisco Abadal founded the Abadal company. He created the company in 1912 to produce the fastest luxury car at the time. Shortly after opening, the company was bought out by Buick. In 1923, the Abadal brand withdrew from the market and ceased production. General Motors had plans to revive it: in 1930, there was even a prototype of the Abadal Continental, but it was never produced.