EBRO Joins the Dakar Rally: More Presence Than Performance?

Barcelona-based carmaker EBRO, which only returned to the market last year, has announced plans to compete with an official team in the 2026 Dakar Rally. The brand, whose recent history reads more like a string of press releases than race results, intends to enter the top-tier T1+ class, reserved for the most capable 4x4 prototypes.

This won’t be EBRO’s first appearance at Dakar. In 2022, the company fielded an electric SSV as the “car zero” safety vehicle. While technically insignificant in racing terms, the move served as a PR re-entry for a brand long forgotten since its heyday in 1950s Spain. Now comes the next step: actual competition. What that means in terms of sporting credibility remains unclear.

After being officially relaunched in 2023, EBRO began selling three new models—the s800, s700 and s400—by the end of 2024. The company claims to have opened sixty dealerships in just seven months, a pace that raises the question of whether quantity is starting to outpace quality. The Dakar push, too, feels more like a publicity sprint than a logical extension of racing readiness.

That impression is strengthened by timing. The Dakar announcement came just two months after EBRO signed a sponsorship deal with Spain’s national football teams. The message is clear: the brand is investing in visibility, not just in wheels.

Whether EBRO’s T1+ contender can make an impact on the Saudi Arabian dunes in January 2026 remains to be seen. But results seem to be a secondary goal. What matters most is being there—and making sure everyone knows it.