From 1937, Daimler-Benz AG increasingly produced armament items such as the LG 3000 truck and aircraft engines such as the DB 600 and DB 601. To create additional capacity for aircraft engine production in addition to the Marienfelde plant the Genshagen plant was built in a well-concealed forest location south of Berlin in 1936.

Armament production accounted for an ever-growing proportion of the company’s revenues up to the start of the war. In the summer of 1941, the Daimler-Benz AG Board of Management, chaired by Wilhelm Kissel, no longer envisaged a swift end to the war or an imminent return to producing civilian vehicles. The most important line of business was truck production, whilst passenger-car manufacture – already limited to military requirements since the beginning of the war – was in decline and virtually came to a standstill by the end of 1942. The company was now focusing on the manufacture and assembly of military components for the army, navy and air force.

Off-road LGF 3000 truck, 1940.

Spare parts production and the repair of military vehicles and engines were also growing in importance. New staff were needed to handle the increased armament production because many workers were fighting on the front line.

Daimler-Benz DB 601 A aero engine, 12-cylinder V-engine with gasoline injection, 1937