page_title: Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde
section_title: The end of IFA
hierarchical_section_title: Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde / Commercial vehicles / The end of IFA
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der IFA 1318 Prototyp mit dem Mercedes-Benz Fahrerhaus vom Typ LK im Jahr 1990 English: Prototype of IFA 1318 with cab of Mercedes-Benz type LK 1990
context_page_description: Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde is an automotive factory in Ludwigsfelde in Brandenburg, just south of Berlin in Germany. The factory is part of Daimler-Benz AG and since 1991 it has made Mercedes-Benz vans. It is also the producer of the Multicar line of automobiles.
context_section_description: The start of L 60 sales in 1987 was a turning point, but not in the way IWL wanted. After 1986, W 50 sales fell more quickly than L 60 sales grew, so IWL's total unit sales fell from an all-time peak of 32,516 in 1986 to 28,152 in 1989. IWL needed a more competitive product, and in the second half of 1989 it held exploratory talks with the West German commercial vehicle builder MAN. However, these did not lead to a joint project.
  The DDR's Peaceful Revolution took place in September and October 1989. This was followed by contact between IWL and Mercedes-Benz in February 1990 that launched a joint project designated IFA 1318. A prototype IFA 1318 truck, with a Mercedes-Benz LN2 cab on an L 60 chassis, was completed on 3 May 1990. The IFA-Kombinat Nutzkraftwagen ("IFA Goods Vehicle Combine") was broken up and in June 1990 a separate IFA-Automobilwerk Ludwigsfelde GmbH was founded under the Treuhandanstalt.
  However, the DDR's adoption of the West German Deutsche Mark on 1 July 1990 led Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from the intended deal by 18 July. As a result, IWL projected that it would reduce its workforce from 8,334 at the end of June 1990 to about 3,150 by the end of the year. The Treuhand would help with the cost of redundancy payments and 2,514 employees would be converted to other work and would be kept on short time until mid-1991.
  Even this plan was overtaken by the collapse of its established markets in eastern Europe. Orders and production plummeted and in 1990 a combined total of only 17,275 trucks were completed — the lowest number since 1969. L 60 production was terminated in August 1990, and W 50 production was ended 17 December that year.
caption: IFA 1318 prototype with Mercedes cab
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