The IFA W50 intersects neatly between IFA Horch and IWL. After nationalisation, the VEB Horchwerkes, formerly part of Auto-Union, was directed to focus on truck manufacture because of the immediate demands of post-war reconstruction and because the company's heavy trucks proved to be a good export earner. However, by the later 1960s it was recognised that East Germany needed a new, mid-sized truck. The IFA W50 was developed by VEB Werdau to fill this niche, however, capacity issues at East Germany's Horch and Robur truck plants, meant a new factory was required. The former Daimler-Benz aircraft engine plant in Ludwigsfelde had been rebuilt from rubble in the 1950s and had been contracted to build various household and industrial goods, ranging from pots and pans, wheelbarrows and plows and even marine diesel engines. In the late 1950s the Industrialwerkes of Ludwingsfelde (IWL) were contracted to manufacture motor scooters to fill a gap in the personal transport market. Four models of scooter were built before manufacture was moved to the Motorrad Zschopauwerkes (the former DKW motorcycle plant) in 1965. From that point on IWL manufactured the IFA W50 truck. These were an extremely successful export vehicle and were sold all around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, where many are still in service today. A testimony to their robust construction.
VEB Horch:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/11/postwar-veb-horch-trucks-and-tractors.html
IWL scooters:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/05/iwl-scooters-legend-from-ludwigsfelde.html
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