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Spanish 4x4 manufacturer Santana has been revived with the backing of Chinese firm Zhengzhou Nissan, a joint venture of Nissan and Dongfeng.

Santana said it has worked with Zhengzhou Nissan and Chinese firm Anhui Coronet Tech on an “entirely new vehicle” that will offer a choice of diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

It will be built at the old Santana plant in Linares, Andalusia, and has been "designed for off-road enthusiasts", suggesting it will rival the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster.

Further details remain under wraps, but teaser images posted to the company’s website suggest it's a chunky, high-riding pick-up truck, most likely based on the Nissan Frontier Pro that was unwrapped at last week’s Shanghai motor show.

That PHEV model matches a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol four-pot with a single electric motor for combined outputs of 402bhp and 590lb ft of torque.

It can be driven for up to 84 miles under electric power alone, albeit according to the lenient range tests used in the Chinese market.

Santana plans to unveil a full model range later this year.

The original Santana company was established in 1956 and, two years later, started producing Land Rovers in Spain under licence.

It was granted the right to launch its own variants of Land Rover models in 1980, spawning models such as the Ligero and PS-10.

It partnered Suzuki in 1985 and thereafter built versions of the Samurai, Jimny and Vitara under licence.

Between 2007 and 2011, it built a restyled version of the PS-10 for Iveco, named the Massif. Sales fell short of expectations, however, so Iveco terminated the deal, effectively killing Santana. The firm went into liquidation in 2011.

Santana isn't the only Spanish brand to have been revived with Chinese backing recently. Former truck maker Ebro has returned with the backing of Chery and now produces rebadged Tiggo SUVs at a former Nissan factory in Barcelona.

Coin-operated onstreet parking machines are being decommissioned in favour of smartphone apps, despite complaints by some drivers that parking apps are expensive and unreliable.

The latest area to be hit is Guildford, which, in the past month, has had two-thirds of its town centre parking machines disabled, with notices taped to them advising motorists to pay using the RingGo app.

Surrey County Council said the decision was due to ageing machines, adding: “It costs more to collect cash and maintain many of the machines than they collect in income.”

However, not all motorists are happy. Autocar spoke to one driver as she struggled to use one of the new machines in the town. “My phone can’t establish a connection [to the RingGo app],” she said. “I’m already late for an appointment and don’t have time to waste trying to buy a ticket. I expect I shall be fined.”

Later at the same machine, an elderly couple were also unhappy about the change. “We don’t like downloading and using apps and would much rather use coins or contactless payment,” they said. “At least we have a smartphone. Many of our friends don’t. We will have to find another parking space.”

In response, Surrey County Council said the connection issues were “isolated” and “motorists who would like to pay with coins are able to park in alternative locations”.

In contrast, Brighton and Hove City Council is considering whether to recommission the 12 contactless payment machines it had switched off in its city centre last year.

It recently concluded a three-month trial of the recommissioned machines, and feedback from drivers has indicated that they are more popular than paying by apps.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex, Joyce Collins, 90, said: “I don’t know anything about apps. I don’t take my car into the city especially because I don’t know about the parking.”

Another local resident, Christina Westwell, said: “If we have to use an app, we just drive off. I don’t want to have to go online.”

A spokesperson for the AA said parking apps are not popular with many of its members, adding: “They prefer to pay using chip and pin and get angry with parking apps that won’t connect or carry extra charges. Councils make it difficult to pay then make it more expensive to pay. It’s a real mess.”

In 2023, RingGo generated a record £30 million in parking fees. The money came from the fees it charges councils for managing payments.

The company is one of many app-based parking firms that also include JustPark and PayByPhone.

In an effort to simplify cashless parking, the Department for Transport (DfT) recently created the National Parking Platform. Currently still being trialled, it unites five apps under one system and today handles almost 500,000 parking transactions per month in 473 UK locations.

Replying to criticisms of parking apps, the DfT said: “The government inherited an extremely challenging financial picture, but we are fixing the foundations, which includes making decisions about how to deliver projects where the gap between promised schemes and the money available has become clear.”

Mercedes-Benz will emphasise “respect” with a new design language for its future models, as it refreshes its line-up and moves to unite the styling of its electric and combustion cars.

The move is part of a drive to differentiate upcoming Mercedes models from their rivals – especially important as its core segments swell with new entrants from less established marques – and to strengthen their desirability as luxury products.

Design boss Gorden Wagener told Autocar at the Shanghai motor show that “the worst part of new design trends is having no identity” and Mercedes wants to avoid its cars falling into what he calls “the sea of sameness”.

That is particularly important in the premium segments, where cars must be more than just transportation devices, he said.

“I think when it comes to luxury, you start a love affair with the car. You attach emotion to it. You don’t just want to have an appliance that gets you from A to B.”

A Mercedes should not, he said, “be like a fridge - something you need”, because “luxury is something you want, not what you need", adding: "We don’t build appliances on wheels.”

Therefore, going forward, Mercedes will “put more emphasis” on respect in the design of its vehicles, “because that’s what people expect from us when they buy a Mercedes".

“You deserve some respect. You’ve made something out of yourself and you’ve been successful in life, so you deserve some respect for that.”

Some of the cues Mercedes will deploy to achieve this were previewed by the outlandish Vision V concept – which Wagener described as “damn sexy” and “very close to production” – at Shanghai. 

“When you look at the front, you see that this car offers a lot of status and respect," he said. "And this is one aspect of the brand: one is love, one is respect.”

Key to achieving this is the “iconic signature grille that nobody else has”, Wagener suggested, which allows Mercedes to “stick the cars out from the sea of sameness on one hand, and the other thing is that when you have this huge illuminated panel, you tailor to that analogue luxury appeal on the street”.

He added, though, that implying respect with a bold vehicle design doesn't necessarily mean installing bigger and bigger grilles but rather emphasising the shape and recognisability of the front end. 

“You see a lot of big grilles out there, and this alone is not necessary. Respect probably has to do with the sublime. When you look at buildings, churches, temples, they have to have a deeper meaning, and this Mercedes grille is probably the best known around the world, so it has a meaning that many people associate with a lot of things - and no other brand has that.”

Crucially, this new approach will apply to both ICE cars and EVs in the future, as Mercedes will no longer design cars differently according to which powertrain they use.

The EQE and E-Class, for example, will be brought closer in line, and the EQS is set to simply be replaced by an electric derivative of the next S-Class. 

The new CLA and upcoming GLC likewise will be all but identical whether specified with ICE or electric power. 

“We will definitely move away from that,” said Wagener about having two design languages at the same time. “There’s no point, just because it’s a different transmission.

“In the first generation, we did purpose design because it was special and people want to show they are driving electric cars, and to make them a bit different, more aerodynamic and futuristic-looking.”

But now, he said, "it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the brand: Mercedes. So we will put the emphasis on that, emphasis on the respect, and the identity of the front to make Mercedes stick out.

"For me as a designer, I don’t care if it’s electric or combustion; it’s a Mercedes.

“We opened the zipper to do purpose design for combustion and electric, and now the zipper will close again."

On this week's My Week In Cars podcast Matt Prior and Steve Cropley talk about the Morris Minor, Prior's Baja Bug, Cropley's visit to the British Motor Museum, Caterham's new engine from a manufacturer called Horse, and more besides, including your correspondence on Rivian and NCAP ratings.

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