# Steyr-Daimler-Puch
**Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG** was an Austrian industrial conglomerate formed in 1934 by the merger of the Steyr-Werke AG with the Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG, combining three of the country's oldest engineering names: Steyr, Daimler, and Puch[1](https://www.steyr-arms.com/de/unternehmen/geschichte/). At its height the group built cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, tractors, tanks, motorcycles, bicycles, and tools, and by the early 1980s it was the third-largest industrial company in Austria[2](https://www.motor-car.net/s/1457-steyr/17201-steyr-daimler-puch) • [3](https://www.fahrzeugseiten.de/Hersteller/Steyr/Geschichte/geschichte.html). Its divisions were sold off from 1987 onward, and in 1998 the Canadian-Austrian Magna group acquired a majority holding; the Graz vehicle business was renamed MAGNA STEYR in 2001[4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1934 merger of "Steyr-Werke AG" with "Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG"[1](https://www.steyr-arms.com/de/unternehmen/geschichte/) |
| Predecessors | Steyr works founded 1864 by Josef and Franz Werndl; Puch bicycle company founded 1899 in Graz; Austrian Daimler company founded 1899 in Wiener Neustadt[4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf) • [5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf) |
| Wartime record | Largest arms company on Austrian soil; first arms manufacturer to use concentration camp prisoners on Austrian soil, from March 1942[6](https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/The-Mauthausen-Concentration-Camp-19381945/Forced-Labour-in-the-Arms-Industry) |
| Wartime workforce | 32,000 people employed at the individual sites during the war[7](https://sais.steyr.gv.at/uploads/r/stadtarchiv-styeyr/0/b/8/0b87527faea303901dc62c423f2d90d354d8d86c804dfbaddd436f96c14e0d28/39_M__ller__Nachkriegszeit_____Besatzung_____Wiederaufbau__2019.pdf) |
| Signature vehicles | Puch 500 (1957), Haflinger (1959), Maxi moped (1968), Pinzgauer (1974), Mercedes-Benz/Puch G-Class (1979)[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf) |
| Peak status | Third-largest industrial enterprise in Austria in the early 1980s[3](https://www.fahrzeugseiten.de/Hersteller/Steyr/Geschichte/geschichte.html) |
| End of the group | Restructuring from 1987; Magna majority holding 1998; renamed MAGNA STEYR 2001[3](https://www.fahrzeugseiten.de/Hersteller/Steyr/Geschichte/geschichte.html) • [4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf) |
## Three roots: Steyr, Daimler, Puch
The Steyr branch was the oldest. A first company was founded in Steyr, Upper Austria, in 1864 by Josef and Franz Werndl, predating the birth of the motor industry[4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf). [Aircraft engine](https://www.edgepedia.org/aircraft-engine) production started at Steyr in 1916, and the decision was taken to build a Steyr automobile factory; the first Steyr car, the 12/40 hp six-cylinder "Model II", appeared in 1920[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf).
The Puch line began with Johann Puch (1862–1914), a Styrian-born trained bicycle mechanic. In 1899 the "Johann Puch Erste Steiermärkische Fahrrad-Fabriks-Aktiengesellschaft" was founded in Graz, and the company was renamed "Puchwerke AG" in 1914[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). Puch built its first test vehicle in 1901 and moved to industrial-scale vehicle manufacture in 1906 with two-cylinder V-type engines[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). At the large Graz plant on Puchstraße, opened by 1914 with 1,100 employees, annual output reached more than 16,000 bicycles, 300 motorcycles, and 300 cars[8](https://www.puch.de/UEber-Puch/Geschichte/).
The Daimler line ran through the "Österreichischen Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft Bierenz, Fischer & Cie.", founded in Wiener Neustadt in 1899, which completed the first Daimler vehicle built in Austria in 1900 and built the first four-wheel drive at Daimler in 1905[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf).
## The mergers of 1928 and 1934
In 1928 the Österreichische Daimler-Motoren AG merged with Puchwerke AG, and the combined company was renamed Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). The union allowed the development of more exclusive and luxurious models, including the bicycle model "Silber Rad", still known today[8](https://www.puch.de/UEber-Puch/Geschichte/).
In 1934 the Steyr-Werke AG merged with the Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG to create Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG[1](https://www.steyr-arms.com/de/unternehmen/geschichte/) • [5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). One Magna corporate chronicle dates the Steyr–Puch merger to 1935; the company's own arms-history and SFT records give 1934[4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf). The Graz-Thondorf plant was built in 1941 to 1942[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf).
## Steyr-Daimler-Puch under National Socialism
During the Second World War the group concentrated on armaments, and new factories were built in Graz-Thondorf and St. Valentin; 32,000 people were employed at the individual sites[7](https://sais.steyr.gv.at/uploads/r/stadtarchiv-styeyr/0/b/8/0b87527faea303901dc62c423f2d90d354d8d86c804dfbaddd436f96c14e0d28/39_M__ller__Nachkriegszeit_____Besatzung_____Wiederaufbau__2019.pdf). Under its chief executive Georg Meindl, Steyr-Daimler-Puch was the first arms manufacturer to use concentration camp prisoners in its factories on Austrian soil[9](https://www.melk-memorial.org/en/History/Project-Quarz). In March 1942 a subcamp of the [Mauthausen concentration camp](https://www.edgepedia.org/mauthausen-concentration-camp) was set up at Steyr-Münichholz, and the company later used prisoners to produce armaments in Gusen, Melk, and St. Valentin in [Lower Austria](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-austria), as well as in Leibnitz and Peggau in Styria[6](https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/The-Mauthausen-Concentration-Camp-19381945/Forced-Labour-in-the-Arms-Industry).
In the spring of 1943, the firm moved a rifle factory to Gusen, where the DEST built eight barracks on the assumption that inmate labor would turn out 10,000 rifles monthly; by late 1944, roughly 6,000 inmates were manufacturing rifles, machine pistols, and aircraft engines across 18 factory halls there.[10](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gusen) At the Ebensee subcamp, prisoners operated a ball bearings production for Steyr-Daimler-Puch in tunnel system "B", working eight to eleven hours a day without safety precautions[11](https://www.mauthausen-guides.at/en/subcamp/satellite-camp-ebensee). As a producer of armaments of particular importance to the war effort, the company was a high-priority target for the Allies[9](https://www.melk-memorial.org/en/History/Project-Quarz).
## Postwar products
Reconstruction began in 1945 with bicycle production, followed by motorcycles in 1946, tractors in 1947, and diesel trucks in 1948; in 1949 the company signed an assembly contract with FIAT[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). [Mass production](https://www.edgepedia.org/mass-production) followed a steady rhythm: the first Puch motor scooter in 1952, the first Puch moped in 1954, the FIAT-based "Steyr-Puch 500" in 1957, and the small all-terrain Puch "Haflinger" in 1959[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). The "Maxi-Moped" entered mass production in 1968 and remained a common everyday vehicle in Austria for decades[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf).
**All-wheel drive became the group's specialty.** The Haflinger laid the foundation for Graz's reputation in four-wheel-drive vehicles, followed by the Puch Pinzgauer from 1974, developed as the Haflinger's successor and later offered in 4×4 and 6×6 versions[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf) • [12](https://www.wko.at/stmk/news/175jahre/chronik-175-wko-steiermark--digital.pdf). By the mid-1960s the production range spanned cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, tractors, tanks, motorcycles, bicycles, and tools[2](https://www.motor-car.net/s/1457-steyr/17201-steyr-daimler-puch).
## The G-Class and contract manufacturing
The best-known product grew from a cooperation with Daimler-Benz. Talks between the two companies began in the summer of 1969, both already building capable off-road vehicles: the Mercedes-Benz Unimog on one side, the Puch Haflinger and Pinzgauer on the other. After a basic understanding between the chief executives Dr Joachim Zahn and Dr Karl Rabus, probably reached in autumn 1972, the construction team was headed by Erich Ledwinka, chief engineer of Steyr-Daimler-Puch[13](https://media.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/9bf7005d-5054-4ccb-97d7-28aba743f57e). Mass production of the Mercedes-Benz/Puch G-Class began in 1979 at the Puch plant in Graz-Thondorf, with [Mercedes-Benz](https://www.edgepedia.org/mercedes-benz) supplying engines, axles, steering systems, and large stamped parts from Germany[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf) • [13](https://media.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/9bf7005d-5054-4ccb-97d7-28aba743f57e). More than 500,000 of these off-road vehicles have been built in Graz, and the production contract runs to at least 2029[12](https://www.wko.at/stmk/news/175jahre/chronik-175-wko-steiermark--digital.pdf).
Contract manufacturing expanded through the 1980s and 1990s: the four-wheel-drive VW transporter from 1984, the [Jeep Grand Cherokee](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeep-grand-cherokee) from 1994, the [Mercedes-Benz E-Class](https://www.edgepedia.org/mercedes-benz-e-class) 4MATIC from 1997, and the Mercedes-Benz M-Class from 1999[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf). Daimler-Benz's 1987 annual report records 6,368 cross-country vehicles manufactured at Graz for its account that year[14](https://group.mercedes-benz.com/documents/investors/berichte/geschaeftsberichte/daimler-benz/daimler-ir-annualreport-1987.pdf).
The group also entered joint ventures of its own. On 21 December 1978 a company agreement between BMW and Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG was signed in Vienna, leading to the BMW-STEYR engine plant, whose groundbreaking followed in June 1979; in 1982 BMW acquired the shares of SDP AG and renamed the company BMW Motoren GmbH[15](https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/steyr/en/history.html).
## Breakup and the Magna era
Restructuring of the group began in 1987, with the individual company parts sold off or spun out[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf) • [3](https://www.fahrzeugseiten.de/Hersteller/Steyr/Geschichte/geschichte.html). In 1990 the majority of the truck division was sold to MAN and the business renamed Steyr Nutzfahrzeug AG[16](https://www.zuckerfabrik24.de/steyrpuch/sttimeline2.htm). The agricultural divisions were regrouped in 1990 as Steyr Landmaschinentechnik GmbH, based in St. Valentin, and in 1996 the STEYR tractor brand was acquired by CASE Corporation and renamed CASE-STEYR Landmaschinentechnik[17](https://preview.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/CNHA/DocumentAssets/419420.pdf) • [18](https://www.steyr-traktoren.com/pl-pl/pracemiejskie/swiat-steyr/polacz-sie-z-nami/nowosci/partner%20na%20ktorym%20mozesz%20polegac%20juz%20od%2070%20lat). In 2000 Pinzgauer production was relocated to the United Kingdom[5](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf).
**Magna took over the core.** In 1998 [Magna International](https://www.edgepedia.org/magna-international), the supplier group founded by the Austro-Canadian Frank Stronach, acquired a majority holding in Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, and in 2001 the company was renamed MAGNA STEYR[4](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf). Magna describes the acquisition as bringing complete vehicle assembly capabilities, and the Graz business became a niche-vehicle assembler of international standing[19](https://www.magna.com/company/company-information/facts-history/our-history).
## The surviving brand names
The three names in the company's title outlived the conglomerate in different hands. The Puch bicycle brand was taken over by the Italian racing-cycle maker Bianchi in 1987 and has been part of the European bicycle group Cycleurope since 1997[8](https://www.puch.de/UEber-Puch/Geschichte/). The Steyr arms business continues as Steyr Arms, whose history page records the 1934 merger as the origin of the name[1](https://www.steyr-arms.com/de/unternehmen/geschichte/). Steyr Motors was founded in 2001 as an independent company after a management buy-out, tracing its diesel-engine lineage back to the 1864 Steyr works[20](https://ir.steyr-motors.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/steyr-motors-ag-2025-12-03-fullnoteinitiation.pdf). The G-Class plant in Graz-Thondorf, where the group's most famous vehicle was first built, continues production under [Magna Steyr](https://www.edgepedia.org/magna-steyr)[13](https://media.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/9bf7005d-5054-4ccb-97d7-28aba743f57e).
## References
1. [Geschichte, STEYR ARMS](https://www.steyr-arms.com/de/unternehmen/geschichte/)
2. [Steyr Daimler Puch Timeline (1918–), motor-car.net](https://www.motor-car.net/s/1457-steyr/17201-steyr-daimler-puch)
3. [Geschichte des Steyr-Daimler-Puch Konzerns, Fahrzeugseiten.de](https://www.fahrzeugseiten.de/Hersteller/Steyr/Geschichte/geschichte.html)
4. [MAGNA STEYR Environmental Report 2002, Magna](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2002.pdf)
5. [MAGNA STEYR Environmental Report 2001 (SFT chronicle), Magna](https://www.magna.com/docs/default-source/magna-steyr---environmental-protection/ms_umwelt_e_2001.pdf)
6. [Forced Labour in the Arms Industry, KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen](https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/The-Mauthausen-Concentration-Camp-19381945/Forced-Labour-in-the-Arms-Industry)
7. [Nachkriegszeit, Besatzung, Wiederaufbau, Stadtarchiv Steyr](https://sais.steyr.gv.at/uploads/r/stadtarchiv-styeyr/0/b/8/0b87527faea303901dc62c423f2d90d354d8d86c804dfbaddd436f96c14e0d28/39_M__ller__Nachkriegszeit_____Besatzung_____Wiederaufbau__2019.pdf)
8. [Geschichte, Puch](https://www.puch.de/UEber-Puch/Geschichte/)
9. [Project Quarz, KZ-Gedenkstätte Melk](https://www.melk-memorial.org/en/History/Project-Quarz)
10. [Gusen, Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gusen)
11. [Satellite Camp Ebensee, Mauthausen Komitee Österreich](https://www.mauthausen-guides.at/en/subcamp/satellite-camp-ebensee)
12. [Chronik 175 Jahre WKO Steiermark](https://www.wko.at/stmk/news/175jahre/chronik-175-wko-steiermark--digital.pdf)
13. [40th anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Mercedes-Benz Media](https://media.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/9bf7005d-5054-4ccb-97d7-28aba743f57e)
14. [Daimler-Benz Annual Report 1987](https://group.mercedes-benz.com/documents/investors/berichte/geschaeftsberichte/daimler-benz/daimler-ir-annualreport-1987.pdf)
15. [BMW Group Plant Steyr History](https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/steyr/en/history.html)
16. [Chronologie der Steyr Pkw, Lkw und Traktoren 1942–1979, Zuckerfabrik24](https://www.zuckerfabrik24.de/steyrpuch/sttimeline2.htm)
17. [CNH Industrial company document](https://preview.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/CNHA/DocumentAssets/419420.pdf)
18. [Partner, na którym możesz polegać już od 70 lat, STEYR traktoren](https://www.steyr-traktoren.com/pl-pl/pracemiejskie/swiat-steyr/polacz-sie-z-nami/nowosci/partner%20na%20ktorym%20mozesz%20polegac%20juz%20od%2070%20lat)
19. [Our History, Magna](https://www.magna.com/company/company-information/facts-history/our-history)
20. [Steyr Motors AG research note](https://ir.steyr-motors.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/steyr-motors-ag-2025-12-03-fullnoteinitiation.pdf)
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