In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, all the occupying powers dismantled Germany's military plants and appropriated their technology as reparations, however, it shortly became apparent to everyone that German industry would need to be restarted in order to produce the machinery, tools and materials required to run a functioning state. In the Soviet occupation zone, a significant number of military-industrial plants were stripped of their machinery in 1945 and 46, but this program had come to a halt by 1947. The remnants of East German industry was slowly reorganized and put back on its feet.
East Germany's motoring industry was incorporated into a new state owned structure called VEB, and a production program was enacted. Initially this would focus on trucks, tractors and military/police vehicles required for reconstruction. Auto-Union AG had manufactured light and medium military vehicles for the Wehrmacht during the war and many of these designs were dusted off for East German or Soviet use. In 1952 the former Horchwerke of Chemnitz modernized the design of the wartime PKW P2 general-purpose light truck to create the all-terrain P2M light military vehicle for the East German army. The car was powered by the long-proven 6-cylinder four-stroke engine originally designed by Ferdinand Porsche for Wanderer in 1932. The car was manufactured for the army in very low numbers until the riots of 1953 led the East German government to reprioritize industrial capacity to address the desperate needs of the civilian population. The army would instead turn to Soviet jeeps, such as the GAZ-69 for its needs. Several years later production of the P2M recommenced for civilian use in forestry, agriculture and export roles. The P2M continued to be built in small numbers until the mid-1960s.
For a CIA report into East German military vehicle production and its problems, see here:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2024/07/1953-cia-report-military-vehicle.html
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