Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge is part of General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), which is also the parent company of MOWAG of Switzerland and Santa Bárbara Sistemas of Spain.

In order to reduce the unit cost, many industrial-grade off-the-shelf components (e. g. an industrial diesel engine) were used for the Pandur II.

[1] The wheels are coil-sprung and have hydraulic shock absorbers, the suspension is similar to the MacPherson strut system.

The control arms (as well as other suspension parts that do not warm up) are made of a chemically pure steel that does neither contain phosphorus nor sulphur (30CMo6).

For tactical reasons, the engine is not fitted with an exhaust gas treatment system (such as a lean NOx trap or SCR catalyst).

[5] The automatic gearbox is connected to the drivetrain with a system of spiral bevel gears that allows quick coupling.

For this purpose, the Pandur II has a trim vane, an additional water-water-cooler (without a radiator), a snorkel, and a bilge pump.

The two water jet propulsion units are installed in the Pandur II's back; they are mechanically driven through the drivetrain.

Compared against a conventional propeller, the water jet propulsion system is less efficient, but more durable and offers better manoeuvrability.

The top speed when swimming in calm waters is ≤11 km/h; the Pandur II has a sea state rating of 1–2.

[13] The Pandur II (Viatura Blindada de Rodas) for the Portuguese Army is fitted with Steyr add-on armour that provides Level 4 protection according to STANAG 4569.

[19] The contract with General Dynamics was terminated by the Ministry of Defence in October 2012 — until that date, 166 units had been built.

Then began a process of negotiation leading to an agreement in September 2014 — General Dynamics agreed upon delivering 22 more units of the Pandur II until August 2015.

Thus, Patria Oyj called for the legal suspension of the contract awarding to General Dynamics at the Public Attorney's Office of the Administrative Court in Lisbon.

[26] It uses the Pandur II 8×8 platform fitted with a new turret armed with a 105 mm gun developed by Elbit in partnership with Denel Land Systems.

[27] The Notice of Award (NOA) for the project was issued to Elbit Systems Land by the Department of National Defense in September 2020.

[28] The KOV "Krpan" (Kolesno Oklepno Vozilo, "Wheeled Armoured Vehicle") from Sistemska Tehnika Armas is the Slovenian license version of the Pandur II with a number of improvements and with 55% of its components and subsystems produced locally.