In 1958 Daimler-Benz became the owner Auto-Union GmbH. Daimler-Benz was never enthusiastic about this acquisition, but the purchase had been forced on them by their major shareholder, Frederick Flick, Germany's richest man. Flick held majority shares in both companies, but after Auto-Union's financial performance began to slide from 1956, he determined to offload his investment. Auto-Union at the time was without strong leadership, with both managing director Richard Bruhn and director of marketing, Carl Hahn, suffering chronic health issues. Both retired in 1957 and the company came under the direction of former technical director, Wilhelm Werner. Werner would take a strong hand to cut waste, lower costs and develop a replacement for the ageing F93 model.
Despite initial lack of enthusiasm, Daimler-Benz saw in Werner's new DKW Junior model an opportunity to break into the budget car market, something that he never managed to do themselves, despite numerous small Mercedes-Benz project's over the years. The DKW Junior was heavily promoted through Mercedes-Benz Auto-Union dealerships in the US and proved a popular seller.
Despite enthusiasm in Australia for a return of DKW, the company could do no more than ship half a dozen F89Ps and F89Ls here in 1952. However, following the Daimler-Benz merger, Auto-Union was able to attempt another return to Australia in 1959 through local distributor Mercedes-Standard of Melbourne. Nine cars were shipped to Australia to test the market, primarily comprising F93 two-door coupes, one Auto-Union 1000S and two universals. These cars were positively reviewed in the Australian motoring media, but further exports did not occur. There was no longer interest in these vehicles and DKW did not recover its market in the country. Surprisingly, many of these cars have survived and are on the road or under restoration. Three of the coupes are still on the road and both the universals are under restoration.
Full magazine: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2023/06/australian-modern-motor-magazine.html
More links:
Auto Union in Australia:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-history-of-dkw-in-australia.html
Surviving Auto-Union cars in Australia:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/06/surviving-dkw-cars-in-australia.html
The Decline of Auto-Union:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-decline-of-dkw.html
Other reviews in the Australian media:
https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2013/10/wheels-magazine-dkw-review-january-1958.html
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