Press releases

2005/02/22

Santana and CAF set up a company to manufacture trains at the Linares factory

Santana Motor and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) have agreed to undertake an industrial project to manufacture trains at the Linares factory. The agreement, which has already been ratified by each company’s executive board, implies the incorporation of a new company in which CAF will be the majority stakeholder with 67% and Santana Motor will hold a 33% stake. The incorporation of this new company will give rise to a new line of products for the Linares-based firm, which up until now has only manufactured cars. Work is due to begin immediately on the construction of a new plant, where the first phase of the new company’s activity will involve assembling metro trains, while a second phase could also include the manufacturing of suburban and high-speed trains.

The new plant is expected to enter into operation at the beginning of 2006 and it is estimated that by the following year there will be 200 employees working directly on the assembly and construction of the railway vehicles.

The incorporation of the new company is the first operation in the diversification process undertaken by Santana Motor. CAF’s presence at the Linares industrial complex represents a great boost for Santana Motor, not only for maintaining the industrial activity it has engaged in up until now, but also for opening up a new line of production that will go a long way to ensuring the consolidation of current employment levels as well as their future growth. This agreement also means that Andalusia will, for the first time, be the location of a large company which designs, manufactures and maintains railway systems and which is currently immersed in an interesting phase of expansion and internationalization within a booming market.